
dass___ 



3 



Book 






HANDBOOK OF SANSKKIT LITEKATUEE. 




?* /£ 



A itAJN±>i>o< 'v 



SANSKRIT LITERATURE: 



APPENDICES DESCRIPTIVE OF THE MYTHOLOGY, CASTES, 
AND RELIGIOUS SECTS OF THE HINDUS. 



INTENDED ESPECIALLY FOR 



CANDIDATES FOR THE INDIA CIVIL SERVICE, AND 
MISSIONARIES TO INDIA. 



GEORGE SMALL, M.A., 

YN 
TEACHER OF OMENTAL LANGUAGES; FORMERLY MISSIONARY AT CALCUTTA AN)) UENAKE3 j 
MKMBEE OF THE PHILOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, 
ETC. 



SI 






WILLIAMS AND NOHGATE, 

14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON 

AND 20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH. 



18GG. 



a" 



HERTFORD: 

TKINTKD BY STEBHKN AUSTIN. 



PEEFACE, 



In the composition of this Handbook the Editor disclaims 
all originality. " Composition/ ' indeed, is hardly an 
applicable term in the case, except in the literal sense 
of the word, that is, inasmuch as it has consisted in a 
" placing together " of materials already in existence, 
products of the genius and researches of other and far 
abler men. The work may more properly be designated 
a compilation; and the only merit that the author can 
rightfully lay claim to is that of care and diligence in 
the selection and arrangement of the subject-matter : 
the only merit that complimentary critics can attribute 
(if deemed due) being that of judiciousness, exhibited in 
the manner in which this has been done. 

He does not profess to be a manufacturer, but simply 
a merchant (or retailer) of literature, who knowing from 
experience the state of the market as regards "demand," 

b 



Y i PREFACE. 

endeavours, to the best of his ability, to provide the 
proper "supply." Contrary, however, to mercantile custom 
in general, instead of "buying at the cheapest market 
and selling at the dearest," the Editor has sought for 
"profit" (the reader's, if not his own) by getting his 
materials from the most authentic sources available — 
even though the most expensive — in order that he may 
retail them on far cheaper terms, as well as in a much 
more handy form, to his reading customers. 

The principal of these authorities — some of which works 
are now difficult to be procured from being out of print — 
may here be mentioned, though generally acknowledged 
in the body of the treatise. The book to which the 
Editor has, perhaps, been most largely indebted, is the 
learned and voluminous work " On the History, Litera- 
ture, etc., of the Hindoos," by the late Rev. W. Ward, 
of Serampore. Next to that he would mention the more 
modern, but equally learned work, by Professor Max 
Miiller, the " History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature." 
His chief other authorities have been Sir William Jones, 
H. T. Colebrooke, Esq., and Professor H. H. Wilson, 
from whose valuable contributions to the " Journal of the 
Asiatic Society," as well as separately published works, 
he has freely and largely quoted. To these he would 



PREFACE. yjj 

add the " Historical Sketch of Sanskrit Literature, " by- 
Professor Adelung, as translated from the German by- 
Mr. Talboys ; the prize essay, by the late Dr. Ballantyne, 
on " Christianity as contrasted with Hindu Philosophy," 
and various other treatises, by the same author, on the 
" Philosophical Systems of the Hindus ; " Lectures on 
Indian Epic Poetry," and other works, by Professor 
Monier Williams, of Oxford; " India and the Hindoos," 
by the Rev. F. de W. Ward, Missionary at Madras ; and 
lastly, but very especially, the editor would acknowledge 
his indebtedness to the valuable little work of a very 
similar character with the present, but now out of print, 
entitled the " Missionary's Yade Mecum," by the Rev. 
T. Phillips, formerly missionary at Muttra. 

The Editor's principal object in the preparation of this 
Handbook has been the supply of a desideratum, long 
felt both by himself and his pupils — those of them, 
especially, who were candidates for H.M. Civil Service 
in India — viz., a work in a condensed form, and at a 
moderate price, from which might be obtained such a 
general acquaintance with Sanskrit Literature as would 
enable them to answer the questions on that subject 
likely to be set at the competitive and subsequent 
examinations. 



yiii PREFACE. 

The importance of the study of Sanskrit, even on 
merely philological grounds, as the parent of the other 
classical languages (of the Aryan family), as well as on 
account of the richness and variety of its own literature, 
is now becoming increasingly felt and acknowledged, not 
only on the European continent (where so much more 
attention has hitherto been paid to it), but even in 
England ; which forms an additional reason for hoping that 
a volume like the present will be hailed, in spite of all its 
imperfections, as a useful work of reference, or text-book. 

If, in any humble degree, it should prove an incentive 
to the study of that venerable and highly polished lan- 
guage, and a handy- guide to those entering on its study, 
the Editor will feel that the trouble he has taken in the 
preparation of this little volume has not been in vain. 

24, "Wellington Street, Strand, 
June, 1866. 



For the assistance of those readers who may not be 
already familiar with the Sanskrit character, though, in 
general, the Roman equivalents have been used through- 
out the work, the Deva Nagari Alphabet, and most 
useful compound letters, are here appended : 



PEEFACE. 



IX 



Cs. 



ii 



VOWELS 

^ a, W T d, \ fi, \?\l, ^ v 

^ 08^ ^ o^' ^ e ' ^ ai> ^"^ °* ^^ *"' 

Nasal symbol, called Anusvdra, * m. Symbol for the final aspi 
rate, called Visarga, \ h. 

CONSONANTS. 



Gutturals, 


efi& 


T§kh 


?lg 


*gh 


t$n. 


Palatals, 


^ch 


$|> chh 


*ij 


^Jh 


of n 


Cerebrals, 


Z t 


-Z th 


vgd 


^ dh 


J^n 


Dentals, 


fT* 


Hfth 


** 


T$dh 


«f n 


Labials, 


-qp 


T$ph 


*tb 


Vfbk 


J{ m 


Semivowels, 


^y 


Xr 


*M 


?v 




Sibilants, 


!{ s 


^sh 


Is 


Aspirate 


, f h 



THE MORE COMMON OF THE COMPOUND OR CONJUNCT CONSONANTS. 

§£ kk, yfi kt, 9p kr, ^ kl, ^ kv, ^ ksh, I^J khy, J*\ gn, 
^ gr, l^gh H ghr, *g n-k, ^ n.g, 1J chch, ^ chchh, ^ chy, 

^T jj> ^ jn> ^ J v > W n ch > ^ n cM > ^ %'> f & ^T ?#> ^ #> 
^T $/> "^ *??> W *?£*» ^s nd, ^ %w, *!£ ny, tJ W, <ST W#, <^ £w, 
gj *m, 3J ty, ^ fr, ^ *y, (^ ts, TB9f i%, "^ dg, ^ ddh, ^ dbh, 
^f dm, 3J dy, ^ dr, ^ dv, "Sf dhy, tcf dim, nf nt, «^ w<7, ^ wra, •Zf wy, 
"g j»#, T?f p#, Tf pr, ^ pZ, ^5T 6/, ^ ' , <3T % W br, ^ M#, ^ Mr, 
3U mM, ifff mm, ?2J my, J^ ml, ?S[ yy, cjj rk, ^ rm, ^ Ip, ^ 11, 
3f vy, ?T vr, ^ sc#, ^ sy, ^f *V, "^ «7, ^ *y, "5 57^^, "^ shth, ^ shn, 
TIH s %> ^lf s ^> ^ s ^^> "^T st, Tg sth, ^ 5w, ^ sm, ^J 5^, ^ sr, 
^ sy, ^g* 55, ^f hm, "U 7«y, ^ hi, ^ A;^, ^T **r, W ktv > ^T ^ 5 ^w, 
^ kshm, ^f fe%, TZfgny, "TOf §"*%» T& gry, ^ »•&#, ^J w.%, 
'c^J chcJihy, ^" chchhr, TFgJ wr/z/, (^ ^sw, (i^f £my, "^Sf ^ry, ^ ^sy, 
^ ^r, ^Sf Wy, ^1 ddhy, ^Q* rf67«y, 51 ^ r ^» *3T w^y, T^T miy, "^ rc?r, 
^S ^2/» ^ »•»», U *^^> ^ *^*w, ^[ sty, ^ s^r, (^ r%. 



CONTENTS 



:p.A.:e/r i. 

RELIGIOUS LITERATURE. 



CHAPTER I. 
INTRODUCTORY AND ON THE VEDAS. 

Preface 

§ I. General Division of the Sastras, or Sacred "Writings of the Hindus 

§ 2. Origin and Antiquity of the Vedas 

§ 3. On the Theology of the Vedas 

§ 4. General Divisions of the Vedas 

§ 5. Special Divisions and Contents of the several Vedas 

1.— Of the Rig-Veda 

(a.) Its Sanhita 

(b.) Its Brahmana 

(c.) Its A'ranyaka and Upanishads 

2. — Of the Yajur-Veda, or Adhvaryu 

(a.) Its Sanhita 

(b.) Its Brahmana, Upanishads, and Aranyak 

3.— Of the Sama-Veda 

4. — Of the Atharva-Veda 



PAGE 

v — ix 
1 
2 
5 
G 
7 
7 
7 
n 
12 

14 
15 
16 
17 
L8 



xii CONTENTS. 



PAGB 



§6. Concluding Remarks on the Vedas 19 

$7. Periodical Distribution of Vedic Literature 21 

1. — Literature of the Chhandas Period 22 

2. — Productions of the Mantra Period 24 

3. — Works of the Brahmana Period 25 

(a.) Of the Brahmanas 25 

(b.) Of the Brahmana- Charanas and Sutra-Charanas 29 

(c.) Of the Aranyakas and Upanishads 34 

4.— Literature of the Sutra Period 36 

The Meaning of Sutra 36 

The Laws of Anuvritti and Nirvritti 37 

The terms Sutra, S'ruti, and Smriti defined 39 

5. — The Paris'istas. (Inserted, by mistake, at end of Chap. II.) . 55 



CHAPTEE II. 

ON THE DHARMA SASTRAS, OR SACRED SCRIPTURES, 
SUPPLEMENTARY TO THE VEDAS. 

§ 1. Generally Described 41 

1.— The Vedanta. The Vedanta Sutra and Brahma Sutra ... 41 
2. — The Upa-Vedas, viz. The Ayus, Gandharva, Dhanus, and 

Sthapatya Vedas 42 

3. — The Vcdangas, viz. : I. S'iksha. 2. Chhandas. 3. Vyakarana. 

4. Nirukta, 5. Kalpa. 6. Jyotisha 43 

4. — The Upangas, viz. The Turana, Nyiya, Mimansa, and Dharma 

S'astra 43 

$ 2. Particular Description of the Vcdangas 43 

1.— The S'iksha (or Phonetics) 43 



CONTENTS. 



xm 



(a.) The Pratis'akhyas 

(b.) The S'akhas ... 

(c.) The Charanas ... 

(d.) TheParshadas ... 

(e.) The Kula-dharmas 
2. — Chhandas, or Prosody 
3. — Vyakarana, or Grammar 
4. — Nirukta, or Etymology 
5. — Kalpa, or the Ceremonial 
6. — Jyotisha, or Astronomy 



PAOK 

43 
45 
46 
47 
48 
49 
50 
51 
52 
54 



ZP-A_IR,T II. 

PHILOSOPHICAL LITERATURE. 



CHAPTER I. 

ON THE SIX DARSANAS IN GENERAL, AND THE NYAYA 
AND VAIS'ESHIKA IN PARTICULAR. 



§ 1. The Schools Enumerated and Analysed 

§ 2. As to the Founder of the Nyaya School (Gautama) ... 

§ 3. Of the Doctrines of the Nyaya School 

§ 4. Of the Vais'eshika School and its Author (Kanada) ... 

§ 5. Outline of the Vais'eshika System 

§ 6. The Vais'eshika- Sutras 

§ 7. Extracts from the Sutra-Pushkara 



57 

59 
no 
(.1 
66 
60 
06 



x iv CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER II. 

OF THE SANKHYA AND YOGA SCHOOLS. 

I. — The Sankhya System. 

PAGE 

§ 1. As to its Author (Kapila) ... 73 

§ 2. Outline of the Sankhya System 73 

II. — The Yoga (or Patanjala) System. 

§ 3. Of its Author (Patanjali) 76 

§4. Brief Summary of his Doctrines 76 

§5. Fuller Account of the System 77 

CHAPTER III. 

ON THE VEDANTA AND MIMANSA DARSANAS, Etc. 

1. — The Vedanta System. 

§ I. Of its Origin and Author (Veda- Vyasa) 87 

§ 2. Outline of the System 88 

§ 3. Concluding Remarks on the System 94 

2. — The M£mans'a Dars'ana. 

§4. Of its Author (Jaimini) and his Writings 96 

§5. Outline of the System 97 

3. — Other Philosophical Systems. 

§ 6. The Satwata Sect 103 

$ 7. The Tauraniks 104 

§ 8. The Bauddhas, or Buddhists 105 

§9. The Jains ' 106 

5 10. The Khandauas 107 



CONTENTS. 



XV 



:p.a.:r,t hi. 
poetical and miscellaneous literature. 



CHAPTER I. 
ON THE EPIC POETRY OF THE HINDUS. 



PAGE 

108 
109 
112 
116 
117 



§ 1. Introductory Remarks ... 

$ 2. The Ramayana 

§ 3. The Mahabharata 

§ 4. The Bhagavad Gita ... 
§ 5. The Nalopakhyanam ... 
§6. The Harivans'a ; the Deluge, etc 119 

CHAPTER II. 

ON THE PURANAS AND DRAMATIC WORKS. 

§ 1. The Pur anas generally described 121 

§2. The Cosmogony and Thcogony of the Puranas 122 

§ 3. As to their Dates 123 

§ 4. As to their Style 124 

§5. The Puranas Enumerated 124 

§ 6. The Puranas Classified and Described 125 

§ 7. Of the Skanda and Padma Puranas 126 

§ 8. Of the Vishnu Purana 126 

§ 9. Of the Sri Bhagavata Purana 127 

$ 10. On the Dramatic and Miscellaneous Poetical "Works 128 

§ 11. Of Kalidasa and his Works 129 

612. The Sakuntala 130 






XVI 



CONTENTS. 



§ 13. The Raghu-Vansa 

§ 14. The Mega-Dtita 

§ 15. The Nalodaya 

§16. The Vikramorvasi , 

§ 1 7. Miscellaneous Works of Kalidasa 

§ 18. Of the other Epic Sanskrit Poets 

§ 19. On the Fables and Nitikatha (or Ethical works) 



PAGE 

... 131 

... 131 

... 131 

... 132 

... 133 

... 133 

... 134 



APPENDIX I. 

BRIEF OUTLINE OF HINDU\ MYTHOLOGY. 

Introductory Remarks 135 

1. Of Brahma 136 

2. Vishnu 137 

3. S'iva 139 

4. Kali 140 

5. Durga 140 

6. Indra 141 

7. Siirya 142 

8. Ganes'a 143 

9. Kartikeya 144 

10. Sabr.'imanman ; 145 

11. Yaraa 146 

12. Agni (Fire) 147 

13. Pavana (Wind) 148 

14. Varuna (the Ocean) 148 

15. The Planets and other Heavenly Bodies 149 



CONTENTS. xv ii 

PAGE 

16. Lakshmi 150 

17- Saraswati 150 



II.— On the Inferior Celestial Beings. 

1. The Asuras, or Giants 150 

2. The Pakshasas 151 

3. The Celestial Dancers and Musicians .. , 152 

4. TheNayikas 152 

5. TheYakshas 153 

6. The Pistechas 153 

7. The other Servants of the Gods 153 

III. — On the Avataras and Terrestrial Deities. 

1. Krishna 154 

2. Gopala and Gopinatha 155 

3. Jaggannatha (or Juggernath) 156 

4. Rama 157 

5. Vis'vakarma 158 

6. Kama-der, a the Indian Cupid 159 

IV. — Op the Principal Female Terrestrial Deities. 

1. Site 159 

2. Radha 159 

3. Pukmini and Satya-bhama 159 

4. Subhadra 160 

V. — Of Deified Pivers. 

1. Ganga (the Ganges) 160 

2. Other Deified Pivers 161 



xviii CONTENTS. 

VI.— Other Objects of Divine "Worship. 

PA«B 

1. The Cow 162 

2. The Monkey (Hanuman) 1G2 

3. The Dog 163 

4. The S'rigala (or Jackal) 163 

5. The Garuda (or Garura) 163 

6. Aruna 163 

7. The Sankara-chilla (or Brahmani-kite) 163 

8. The Kanjana (or Water-wagtail) 163 

9. The Peacock, the Goose, and the Owl , 163 

10. Fishes Worshipped 164 

11. Trees Worshipped 164 

12. The Salagrama Stone 164 



APPENDIX II. 

ON THE HINDU CASTES AND BELIGIOTJS SECTS. 

I. — Of the Four Castes 165 

II. — Of the Religious Sects 168 

(a.) Divisions and Doctrines of the Vaislmava Sects ... 170 

1. Of the S'ri Sampradayfs, or Riimanujas 170 

2. The Iliimanandis, or R&m&wats 175 

3. The Kabir Panthis 179 

4. The Khakis 186 

5. The Maluk Dasis 186 

6. The Dadu Panthis ...187 

7. The Kudra Sampradayis, or Vallabhacharis 188 



CONTENTS. x i x 

PAGE 

(b.) Of the S'aiva Sects 191 

1. The Dandis and Das'n ami's 193 

2. The Yogis, or Jogis 197 

3. The Jangamas or Lingayats 199 

4. The Paramhansas 199 

5. TheAghoris 2C0 

6. The Urddhabahus 201 

7. The Akas Mukhis 201 

8. TheNakhis 201 

9. The Gudaras 202 

10. The Sukharas 202 

11. The Kukharas 202 

12. The Ukharas 203 

13. The Karalingis 203 

14. The Sannyasis 203 

15. The Vairagis 203 

16. The Avadhutas 203 

17. TheNagas 204 

(c.) Of the S'akta Sects 204 

1. The Dakshinas, or Bhaktas 205 

2. The Vamis, or Vamacharis 205 

(d.) Other (Miscellaneous) Sects 206 

1. The Saurapatas, or Sauras 206 

2. The Ganapatyas 206 

3. The Sikhs, or Nanak Shahis 207 

4. The Udasis, Govind Sinhis, etc 207 

5. The Jains 207 



' 



■m 



^ 



EEEATA 



The following mistakes have been only discovered by the Editor 
when preparing the Table of Contents, after the body of the work 
had left the press. He regrets much that they had escaped his 
observation when correcting the proofs (sometimes rather hastily) 
in the short intervals of professional engagements. The Reader is 
requested to notify them in his copy ; and also to observe that some 
words have two, or even more, different forms or orthographies, 
and he therefore must not always conclude, when he finds the same 
term spelt differently in different places, that either word is a mis- 
print : 



Page 1, 

2, 
5, 
12, 
29, 
47, 
55, 



76, 

76, 

77, 

82, 

89, 

96, 

107, 

120, 

126, 

139, 

113, 

159, 

174, 



ne 17, for "Silpa," read "S'ilpa." 

7, ,, " Mimdnsa," read " Mimdnsd." 
9, ,, "Vaisampaydna," read "Vaisampdyana." 
28, ,, "Aranyalca" read "Aranyakas." 
30, ,, " Parisishta," read "Paris'ishta." 
11, ,, " Pdrshada," read " Pdrshadas." 
21, (5.) The Paris' ishtas, etc., to the end of 
Chap. II. should have been printed at 
the end of Chap. I. 
"Patanjali," read "Patanjala." 
" Pdtanjali" read " Patanjali. ," 

Ditto „ Ditto. 

"Patanjala," read Patanjala." 
^TTfiT read ^'fiwf 
"Jaimini" read "Jaimini." 
" Marwar," read "Manviir." 
"4, 5, 6, 7," read "1, 2, 3, 4." 
"Skdnda" read "Skanda." 
"charming," read "churning." 
"Gancsa" read "Gancsa." 
"Sita" read "Situ." 
" JDandavat," read " Bandavat" 



3, . 


fa 


5, 


>> 


10,16 


» 


8; 


>> 


5, 


55 


15,24 


,, 


19, 


)> 


4, etc. 


)) 


1,3, 


It 


14, 


)> 


21,etc. 


>> 


15, 


>> 


14, 


>> 



HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 



PAET I. 
RELIGIOUS LITERATURE. 

CHAPTER I. 
INTRODUCTORY AND ON THE YEDAS. 

§ 1. General Division of the Sdstrds, or Sacred Writings of 
the Hindus. 

The Hindus arrange their sacred works under eighteen 
heads, or separate books, in which every sort of know- 
ledge, religious, philosophical, scientific, and ethical, is 
considered to be fully taught, as follows : — 

1. The four Yedas, namely, the Big, the Tajur} the 
Sdma, and the Atharva. 

2. The four Up a- Yedas, comprising the Ayus (on the 
science of medicine), drawn from the Rig-veda; the Gdn- 
dltarva (on music), from the Sama-veda; the Dhanu 
(on military tactics), from the Yajus; and the Silpa or 
Sthdpatya (on mechanics), from the Atharva. 

1 The original words arc respectively Rich (^x^) and Yajus ("^<JltO 
but when prefixed to the word Veda, the euphonic rules of Sanskrit grammar 
require them to he pronounced Rig and Yey'w, with which forms therefore 
the European reader is likely to he most familiar. Rich (the root and " crude 
base") however becomes, by the same rules, in the nominative singular, Rik 

WW). 



& HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

3. The six Angas, 1 viz., the Sikshd, on pronunciation ; 
the Kalpa, on ceremonies ; the Vydkarana, on grammar ; 
the Chhandas, on prosody and Terse ; the Jyotisha, on 
astronomy; and the Nirukta, an explanation of difficult 
words, etc., in the Yedas. 

4. The four Upangas, viz., the Purdnas, or poetical 
histories ; the Nydya, on ethics ; the Mimdma, on divine 
wisdom and religious ceremonies ; and the Dharma Sdstra, 
or the civil and canon laws. 

§ 2. Origin and Antiquity of the Vedas. 

The difficulties attending the first attempts to obtain 
from the Brahmans a knowledge of their Sastras, were 
very great. This is accounted for from the fact that the 
Sastras denounce the heaviest penalties on a Brahman 
who shall teach the knowledge of the sacred books to 
infidels or persons of low caste. This reserve, however, has 
at length been so overcome by the perseverance, influence, 
and gold of Europeans (pioneered by such men as Sir 
William Jones, Mr. Colebrooke, etc.), that the Brahmans 
will now, without the slightest hesitation, sell or translate 
the most sacred of their books, or communicate all they 
enow of their contents. The difficulty now lies more in 
the scarcity and obscurity of these works than in the 
scrupulosity of the Brahmans, their guardians. 

Though probably no person living has ever seen the 
whole Veda, yet distinct portions of each of the four parts 
— the Rig, the Yajur, the Sdma, and the Atharva — have 
long been in the hands of learned Europeans, by whom 
they have been identified, and their contents examined 
1 That is, "limbs" or "parts." 



ANTIQUITY OF THE VEDAS. 6 

and translated. The JRig, the Yqjur, and the Sdma are 
considered to be the principal portions of the Yeda, but 
the Atharvana is generally admitted as a fourth part. 
And divers mythological poems, entitled Itihdsas and 
Purdnas, are reckoned a supplement, and as such con- 
stitute a fifth Veda. 

It is well known that the Brahmans have more 
reverence for the Veclas than for any other of the Sastras. 
Several causes may be assigned for this ; they are at present 
but little known, and ignorance, in this case, is doubtless 
the mother of devotion ; they are declared to be the 
peculiar inheritance of the Brahmans, and are kept from 
the lower castes, so that a Sudra cannot hear any part 
of them repeated without incurring guilt ; they are sup- 
posed to be the source of all the Sastras — everything, it is 
said, is to be found in the Yedas. They claim an inscru- 
table antiquity. Many believe them to have proceeded 
immediately from the mouth of God ; thus the Yedanta 
writers say, " The self-evident word proceeding out of 
the mouth of God, this is the Veda." 1 But, perhaps (as 
one writer remarks) we may consider the word " Veda" 
as signifying " knowledge," or true ideas, or philosophy 
in general, and not merely the books so called, and thus 
account for the veneration in which it is held by Hindus 
generally, and especially by the Brahmans. 

1 The date of the Vedas (undoubtedly the most ancient compositions in 
the whole range of Sanskrit literature) is fixed by Sir W. Jones at 1500 n.c. 
Ritter supposes they were collected or composed about 1400 or 1G00 n.c. 
Their great age may be inferred from the fact of their being mentioned in all 
ancient, Indian works, and from the ancient iambic metre of eight syllables, 
in which they are written, and not in the common iloka of modern works. 
But it is impossible to fix the precise period of their composition from any data 
now procurable. 



4 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

Notwithstanding the directly divine origin ascribed by 
the Yedantists and others to the Yedas, on consulting the 
works themselves, we find the names of the respective 
authors of each passage preserved in the Annkramanikd, 
or explanatory table of contents, which has been handed 
down with the Yeda itself, and of which the authority is 
unquestioned. The acknowledged author of the index to 
the white Yajus, and also that prefixed to the JRig-veda, 
was Katydyana, the pupil of Shaunaka. 

According to said " Anukramanika," Visvdmitra is" the 
author of all the hymns contained in the third book of 
the Eig-veda ; as Bharadvdja is, with rare exceptions, the 
composer of those collected in the sixth book ; Vasishtha, 
of those in the seventh; Gritsamada, of those in the second ; 
Vdmadcva, of those in the fourth ; and Buddha, 1 and other 
descendants of Atri, of those in the fifth. B at in the remain- 
ing books of the Rig- Yeda, the authors are more various, 
such as Jamaclagni, son of Bhrigu ; Parasara, father of 
Yyasa ; Gotama, and his son Nodhas ; Kasyapa, son of 
Marichi ; Angiras, Yrihaspati, Narada, and other celebrated 
Indian sages, along with many of their lineal descendants. 
Several personages of roj^al birth (as the five sons of 
Yrihangir, and the Rajas Trayarima, and Trasadasya) 
are mentioned among: the authors of some of the hymns 
in the Big-veda. Many of the hymns are in praise of 
the liberality and other virtues of various celebrated kings 
and heroes, as of Swanaya, Chitra, Yibhandu, etc. 

Some parts of the Yeda are ascribed to divine persons, 

1 First of the name, and progenitor of the race of kings called " children 
the Moon," or " the Lunar Dynasty." 



AUTHORS OF THE VEDAS. 

and even to Brahma himself, under different names. 
"Where the author was unknown, the compiler probably 
gave to that hymn or section a divine origin, but it is 
probable that the greater portion, if not the whole, of the 
Yeda was written by devotees called Munis. Dwaipayana, 
surnamed Vyasa (or, " the compiler"), having compiled 
and arranged the Scriptures, theogonies and mythological 
poems, taught the several Yedas to as many disciples, viz. 
the Rik to Paila ; the Yajus to Vaisampaydna ; the Sdma 
to Jaimini ; the Atharva to Samantu ; and the Itihdsas 
and Pur anas to Siita. These disciples instructed their 
respective pupils, who, becoming teachers in their turn, 
communicated the knowledge to their own disciples ; until 
at length, in the progress of successive instruction, so 
great varieties crept into the text, or into the manner of 
reading or reciting it, and into the no less sacred precepts 
for its use and applications, that no fewer than 1,100 
different schools arose. 

§ 3. Of the Theology of the Vedas. 

The religious system of the Yedas may be described as 
a rude, non-idolatrous deism — though in some aspects it 
presents a polytheistical appearance, in as far as the sun, 
moon, fire, etc., are regarded as proper objects of adora- 
tion. " The real doctrine of the Indian Scripture," says 
Colebrooke, " is the unity of the Deity, in whom the 
universe is comprehended ; and the seeming potytheism 
which it exhibits, offers the elements and the stars and 
planets as God. The three principal manifestations of 



() HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

the divinity, 1 with other personified attributes and 
energies, and most of the other gods of Hindu my- 
thology are indeed mentioned, or at least indicated, in 
the Yeda. But the worship of deified heroes is no part of 
the system ; nor are the incarnations of deities suggested 
in any portions of the text which I have seen, though 
such are sometimes hinted at by the commentators. " 2 

" Some of these statements," however, remarks Prof. 
Wilson, 3 "ruay perhaps require modification; for without 
a careful examination of all the prayers of the Yedas, it 
would be hazardous to assert that they contain no indica- 
tion whatever of hero-worship ; and certainly they do 
appear to allude occasionally to the Avatars or incarna- 
tions of Vishnu. It is also true that the worship of the 
Yedas is for the most part domestic worship, consisting of 
prayers and oblations offered — in their own houses, not in 
temples — by individuals for individual good, and addressed 
to unreal presences, not to visible types. In a word, the 
religion of the Yedas was not idolatry." 

§ 4. General Divisions of the Vedas. 

The whole Yeda is divided into three parts, viz., the 
Mantras or Gdnas — prayers, hymns, etc., which collectively 
are called the Sanhita of each Yeda ; the Brdhmanas or 
theological part ; and the Jndna or Upanishads, the philo- 
sophical portion ; besides which many selections have 
been made from fclie Veda hy different sages. 

1 Viz., the Sim hinder the various names of Surya, Mitra, etc.), Somd (the 
moon), and Agni (lire). To which are to be added Indira (the firmament, 
especially as Been at night), and Vdyu (the wind). 

Res. vol. viii., p. 478. 3 Introduction to the Vishnu Parana. 



DIVISIONS OF THE VEDAS. i 

The first of these divisions comprises about thirtjr dif- 
ferent treatises, or collections of prayers and hymns, with 
comments, as the Rig-veda Sanhitd, the A' r any a Panchaka, 
the Yajur-veda Sanhitd, the Taittiriya Sanhitd, etc., etc. 

The Brdhmanas include between sixty and seventy 
separate works and comments ; and the Upanishads are 
sixty-two in number, though many are comprised in a 
few leaves, and only ten of them are much studied now-a- 
days, as containing matters of dispute between the sects 
who follow the six Darshanas, or philosophical schools. 
The proper meaning of Upanishad is said to be " divine 
science," or the " knowledge of God," and is equally ap- 
plied to the theology itself, and to a book in which thib 
science is taught. 

The whole of the Indian theology is professedly founded 
on the Upanishads. 

The several Sanhitds, or collections of Mantras in each 
Yeda, constitute the Sdkhas (^JWT) or " branches" of each 
Yeda. Tradition, preserved in the Pur anas, reckons the 
Sanhitds of the Rig-veda as 16 in number ; of the Tajur, 
86, — or, including those which branched from a second 
revelation of this Yeda, 101. Those of the Sdma-vcda are 
reckoned as no fewer than 1,000, and of the Atharvana 
nine. But treatises on the study of the Yeda reduce the 
Sdkhas of the Big to five ; and those of the Yajus, in- 
cluding both revelations of it, to 86. 

§ 5. We proceed now to give a brief account of the 
Special Divisions and Contents of the several Vedas. 
I. — Of the Rig-Veda. 
(a). The Sanhitd. — The collection of prayers in the Rig- 



8 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

veda is divided into eight parts (klianda or kanda), each of 
which is subdivided into as many lectures (adhyaya). 
Another mode of division also runs through the volume, 
distinguishing ten books (mandala), which are subdivided 
into more than 100 chapters (enure uka), and comprise 
1,000 hymns or invocations (siikta). 

A further subdivision of more than 2,000 sections 
(varga) is common to both methods, and the whole con- 
tains above 10,000 verses, or stanzas (slokas) of various 
measures. 

" The Sanhita of the first Veda," says Mr. Colebrooke, 
' 'contains mantras or prayers, which for the most part 
are encomiastic, as the name, Rig- veda, implies. 1 . . . On 
examining this voluminous compilation, a systematic ar- 
rangement is readily perceived. Successive chapters, and 
even entire books, comprise hymns of a single author ; 
invocations, too, addressed to the same deities, hymns 
relating to like subjects and prayers intended for similar 
occasions, are frequently classed together. The Rishi or 
speaker is of course rarely mentioned in the Mantra itself, 
but in some instances he does name himself. A few 
passages, too, among the Mantras of the Veda are in the 
form of a dialogue, and, in such cases, the discoursers were 
alternately considered as Rishi and Devata. In general 
the person to whom it was revealed, or by whom its use 
and application was first discovered, is called the Rishi of 



1 Derived from the veil) rich (^J^) "to praise." The term sanities 
any prayer or hymn in which the deity is praised ; and as those are mostly in 
ferae, the term becomes also applicable in such passages of any Veda as are 
redueible to measures by the rules of prosody. The Ptig-yeda, containing 

most of these, derives its name from them. 



THE SANHITA OF THE RIG- VEDA. 9 

that Mantra. He is evidently, then, the author of that 
prayer, notwithstanding the assertion of the Hindus, with 
whom it is an article of their creed, that the Yedas were 
composed by no human author. 

" The deities invoked appear to be as various as the 
authors of the prayers addressed to them ; but, according 
to the most ancient annotations on the Indian Scripture, 
those numerous names of persons and things are all re- 
solvable into different titles of three deities, and ulti- 
mately of one God. The Nighantu, 1 or glossary of the 
Yedas, concludes with three lists of names of deities ; the 
first comprising such as are deemed synonymous with 
fire ; the second, with air ; and the third, with the sun. 
In the last part of the JSTirukta, which entirely relates to 
deities, it is twice asserted that there are but three gods — 
1 Tisra eva devatah.' The further evidence that these 
intend but one deity is supported by many passages in the 
Yeda ; and it is very clearly and concisely stated in the 
beginning of the Index to the Rig-veda, on the authority 
of the Nirukta and of the Yeda itself. 

" The deities," it is there stated, " are only three, whose 
places are the earth, the intermediate region, and heaven ; 
fire, air, and the sun. They are pronounced to be (the 
deities) of the mysterious names severally;'' and Prajdpati 
(the lord of creatures) is (the deity) of them collectively. 



1 The Nighantu is the first part of the Niruhta, one of the Vcdangas, or 
works supplementary to and connected with the Vedas. It is a glosaarial 
explanation of obscure terms. 

2 Bhuv, Bhuvah, and Swar, called Vydhriti ( cdH^dr) a mystical word 
or sound, as 0m } etc. These commence the daily prayers of the liiulimans. 



-— - 



10 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

The syllable Om l intends every deity ; it belongs to 
(Parameshthi) Him who dwells in the supreme abode ; it 
appertains to (Brahma) the vast one ; to (Deva) God ; to 
(Adhydtma) the superintending soul. Other deities be- 
longing to those several regions are portions of the (three) 
gods ; for they are variously named and described, on 
account of their different operations, but (in fact) there is 
only one deity, the great soul (Mah&n A' Una). He is called 
the sun ; for he is the soul of all beings ; and that is 
declared by the sage — ' The sun is the soul of (jagat) 
what moves, and of (tasthush) that which is fixed. Other 
deities are portions of him ; and that is expressly declared 
by the text. The wise call fire Indra, Mitra, and Ta- 
mil a," etc. 2 

"The subjects and uses of the prayers contained in the 
Yeda differ more than the deities which are invoked, or 
the titles by which they are addressed. Every line is 
replete with allusions to mythology and to the Indian 
notions of the divine nature and the celestial spirits. For 
the innumerable ceremonies to be performed by a house- 
holder, and still more for those endless rites enjoined on 
hermits and ascetics, a choice of prayers is offered in 
every stage of the celebration. The various and repeated 
sacrifices with fire, and drinking of the milky juice of the 
Moon plant, or acid asclepias (soma-lata), furnish abun- 

1 "'^ffaTj the mystic name of the deity, prefacing all the prayers and most 
of the writings of the Hindus. It is composed of three letters, viz. "^n 
a name of \ "ishmi, ^ of S'iva, and ^ of Brahma. It therefore implies the 
Indian Triad, and expresses three in one. 

2 This passage of the Anukramml is partly abridged from the Nirukta, and 
partly taken from the l>rahmana of the Vedas. 



THE BRAHMANA OF THE RIG- VEDA. 11 

dant occasion for numerous prayers, adapted to the many 
stages of those religious rites/' x 

The third book of the Big-veda (distributed into five 
chapters) contains invocations by Yisvamitra. The last 
hymn in this book consists of six prayers, one of which 
contains the celebrated Gayatri (or verse consisting of 
eight syllables), as follows : "This new and excellent 
praise of thee, splendid playful sun, is offered by us to 
thee. Be gratified by this my speech. Approach this 
craving mind, as a fond man seeks a woman. May that 
sun (Pushan), who contemplates and looks into all worlds, 
be our protection. Let us meditate on the adorable light 
of the divine rules {Savitra) ; may it guide our intellects. 
Desirous of food, we solicit the gift of the splendid sun 
(Savitri), who should be studiously worshipped. Vene- 
rable men, guided by the understanding, salute the divine 
sun with oblations and praise." 2 

(b.) The Brahmana of the Big-veda. — The second part 
of the Big-veda consists of the Brahmana (or precepts). 
The Aitereya Brahmana is divided into eight books 
(Panjikd) each containing five chapters or lectures 
(Adhyaya) and subdivided into an unequal number of sec- 
tions {Khandas), amounting in the whole to 285. The work 
is partly in prose, but for most part in verse. It treats 
chiefly of sacrifices to be performed by kings, and of the 
consecration of kings, etc. This latter ceremony was per* 

1 Colebrookc's Essay on the Vcdas. As. Res. vol. viii. 

2 There arc four (nh/atrls, according to the four Vedns, intended for the 
exclusive use of Brahmans, Avho believe that no S'udra can repeat them \\ itlmut 
drawing on himself signal punishment from heaven. The most common in 
use is in these words. " 0m, earth, sky, heavens ! We meditate on that 
adorable light of the resplendent sun; may it direct our intellects !" 



12 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

formed by pouring on their heads, while seated on a throne 
prepared for the purpose, water mixed with honey, clari- 
fied butter {ghiita), and spirituous liquors (madhu), as well as 
two sorts of grass, and the sprouts of corn. This ceremony, 
called abhisheka (^fHefcfi) " sprinkling," or " anointing," 
is also celebrated on divers occasions as parts of the 
rites belonging to certain solemn sacrifices. The mode 
of its celebration forms the subject of the second chapter 
of the eighth book, which contains an instance (not 
singular in the Yedas) of a disquisition, or a difference 
of opinion among inspired authors. 

The thirty-eighth chapter describes a supposed con- 
secration of Indra, when elected hy the gods to be their 
king. It consists of similar, but more solemn rites, 
including, among other peculiarities, a fanciful construc- 
tion of his throne with texts of the Veda ; besides a re- 
petition of the ceremony in various regions, to ensure 
universal dominion. This last part contains many geo- 
graphical allusions. 

The fortieth, and last chapter of the Aitereya Brahmana, 
relates to the benefit of entertaining a Purohita, or ap- 
pointed priest ; the selection of a proper person for that 
office, and the mode of his appointment by the king, together 
with the functions to be discharged hj him. The last 
chapter describes rites to be performed, under the direc- 
tion of such a priest, for the destruction of the king's 
enemies. 

(c.) The Aranyaka and Upanishads of the Rig-veda. — 
The Upanishads are the argumentative sections of the 
Veda, sometimes entitled the Vedcinta. Some of these 



THE UPAXISHADS OF THE RIG- VEDA. 13 

tracts are portions of the Brahmana, properly so called, 
others are found only in detached forms, and one is part 
of a Sanhita itself. 

These constitute the third part of the Kig-veda. The 
Aitereya Aranyaka comprises eighteen chapters or lectures, 
unequally distributed in five books. The second, which is 
the longest, for it contains seven lectures, forms, with the 
third, an Upanishad of this Yeda, entitled the Bahvrich 
Brahmana Upanishad, or more commonly the Aitereya, 
as the composition or revelation made to a sage so named. 
The four last lectures of that second Aranyaka are par- 
ticularly consonant with the theological doctrines of the 
Yedantists, and are accordingly considered by theologians 
of that school as the proper Aitereya Upanishad. 

This work speaks of the creation of the universe by 
the self-existent and all pervading soul (Paramatma) or 
Brahma. First, the regions above the visible heavens, 
the atmosphere, the earth, and waters are created. Then 
God, to rule these various regions. Then food for all 
beings. The efforts of the primeval man to seize food, 
which was embodied in form, are described. After this is 
explained the mode in which the universal soul penetrated 
the man. Pro-creation is then described, and the whole 
is concluded by a disquisition on the nature of the soul. 

The Kaushitika Brahmana is another Upanishad. This 
contains two dialogues ; one in which Indra instructs 
Pratardana in theology, and another in which Ajatasatru, 
king of Kasi (Benares), communicates divine knowledge 
to a priest named Balaki. 



14 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

2. — Of the Yajtjr-Veda, or Adhvaryu. 

The Yajus, or Adhvaryu, consists of two different 
Yedas, the white and the black, which have each sepa- 
rately branched out into various Sakhas. 1 

To explain the names by which both are distinguished, 
it is necessary to notice a legend which is gravely related 
in the Puranas, and the commentaries on the Yedas. 

The Yajus, in its original form, was at first taught by 
Yaisampayana to twenty- seven pupils. At this time, 
having instructed Yajnavalkya, he appointed him to 
teach the Yeda to other disciples. But being afterwards 
offended with him, the resentful preceptor made him 
disgorge the science he had learned in a tangible form. 
The rest of Yaisampayana's disciples, receiving his com- 
mand to pick up the disgorged Yeda, assumed the form 
of partridges, and swallowed these texts, which were 
soiled and for this reason termed " black" (grsij, krishna). 
This Yeda is also, and more commonly, called the Taitti- 
riya, from tittiri (frTf^ff^) " a partridge," and it contains 
twenty-seven Sakhas according to the number of Yaisam- 
payana's pupils. Yajnavalkya, overwhelmed with sorrow, 
had recourse to the sun, from which he received a new 
revelation of the Yajus, which is called " white" (^r|ff 
sukla). There is, however, a more rational account of the 
origin of these two Vedas, given in the Anukramani, or 
Index, to the black Yajus. 

The Yajur-veda relates chiefly to oblations and sacri- 
fices, as the name itself implies, which is derived from yaj 

1 ^M'T^IT U;l branch." 



THE SANHITA OF THE YAJUR-VEDA. 15 

(^T5f)> " to worship/' It contains instructions respecting 
religious exercises, the castes, feasts, purifications, expia- 
tions, pilgrimages, gifts, various sacrifices, the requisite 
qualifications in animals to be offered, the building of 
temples, the usual ceremonies at the births, marriages, and 
deaths, of men of all ranks, etc. Many of the hymns and 
detached portions of the Yeda have been translated by 
Mr. Colebrooke, Sir William Jones, Dr. Carey, and others. 

The Yajasaneyi, or white Yajus, is the shortest of the 
Vedas, so far as respects the first and principal part, viz., 
the mantras. 

(a) The Sanhitd of the Yajur. — The Sanhitd of this 
Yeda is comprised in forty lecturs (adhydya), unequally 
divided into numerous short sections (khandaka or 
kdndikd), each of which, in general, constitutes a prayer 
or Mantra. It is also divided, like the Eig-veda into 
anuvdkas (chapters). The number of these appears to 
be 286 ; the number of sections or verses is nearly two 
thousand (1987) ; but this includes many repetitions of 
the same text in divers places. The Adhydyds are very 
unequal, containing from 13 to 117 sections {kdndikd). 

The black Yajxs is more copious as regards the Mantras, 
than the white, but less so than the Big-veda. 

Its Sanhitd is arranged in seven books (Ashtaka or 
kdnda) containing from five to eight lectures or chapters 
(Adhydya, Prasna, or Prapdthaka). Each of these is sub 
divided into sections (Anuvdka), which are equally dis- 
tributed in the third and sixth books, but unequally in the 
rest. The whole number exceeds G50. No admittedly 
human authors were noticed by Colebrooke in this Yeda. 



16 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

Nine entire Kandas are ascribed to Prajapati (the lord of 
creatures) ; as many to the moon, seven to Agni (or fire), 
and sixteen to all the gods. Many of the topics are the 
same as those of the white Yajus, but differently placed 
and differently treated. 

(b) The Brahmana and Upanishads of the Yajus. — The 
fortieth and last chapter of this Yeda is an Upanishad, 
called Isavasyam, which has been translated by Sir William 
Jones. A part of this Upanishad, the Ukada Aranyaka, 
together with a commentary on the same by Sankara 
Acharya, is now in the library of the Asiatic Society 
of London. 

The Satapatha Brahmana is more copious than the col- 
lection of prayers (the Sanhitd)', but the same order is 
followed in both. 

The Yrihadaranyaka, which constitutes the fourteenth 
book, is the conclusion of the white Yajus. This forms 
the Yrihad Upanishad. In it we have an account of 
Yiraj (f%^T*r)> the first cause, dividing his own substance 
into male and female of every creature, from man to the 
lowest animal. 

In the second part of the Brahmana of the black Yeda, 
religious observances are described. Its Upanishads are 
two, the Taittiriyaka and the Nar&yana. Other Sakhas 
have other Upanishads, as the Maitrayani, Katha, and 
Swet&svatara. 

The Jesuits forged a modern imitation of this Yeda, 
called the Ezur Ycdam. Copies of three other Yedas in 
Sanskrit, written in the Roman character and in French, 
were found among the manuscripts of the Catholic mis- 



DIVISIONS OF THE SAMA-VEDA. 17 

sionary at Pondicherry (M. Barthelmy) where the one hi 
question was discovered. A copy of the Ezur Yedam was 
brought from India, and presented to Voltaire, who sent 
it, in 1761, to the Royal Library of France. The forgery 
which had been manufactured at the instigation of the 
Jesuits (it is said by Father Roberto de JNobili, in the 
seventeenth century), has been ably exposed in an article 
by the late F. Ellis, Esq., contained in the Transactions of 
the Literary Society of Bombay. 

3. — Of the Sama-Veda. 

This Yeda, so called from Sdman, a prayer arranged for 
singing, consists of more than 1,000 Sanhitds. A peculiar 
degree of holiness seems to be attached to it by the Hindus, 
it being supposed that the perusal of it is destructive of 
sin. 

The prayers {Mantras) belonging to it are composed in 
metre, and intended to be chanted. 

The principal, if not the first part of the Sama-veda, is 
that entitled A'rchika. It comprises prayers arranged in 
six chapters (Prapathaka) subdivided into half- chapters, 
and into sections (dasati), ten in each chapter, and 
usually containing exactly ten verses each. The same 
collection of prayers, in the same order, but prepared for 
chanting, is distributed in seventeen chapters, under the 
title of Grdmageya-gdna. 

Another portion of the Sama-Veda, arranged for chant- 
ing, bears the title of A'ranya-gdna, and is subdivided in 
the same manner as the A'rchika. 

2 



18 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

There are four Brdhmanas of this Yeda, received by 
four different schools. One is denominated S/iadvinsa, 
probably from its containing twenty-six chapters. An- 
other is called the Adbhuta-Brdhmana. But the best known 
is that entitled the Tdndya, and an exposition of it by 
Sdyandchdrya. Its principal Upanishad is the Chhan- 
dogya, divided into eight chapters. Another is called the 
Kena Upanishad. These works are disquisitions on ab- 
struse and mystical theology. The Kena has been trans- 
lated by Pammohan Ray. 

4. — Of the Atharva-Veda. 

Several scholars, learned in Indian literature, have sup- 
posed the fourth Yeda, from its more modern dialect, to 
be of less authority than the others, and will only acknow- 
ledge the first three to be genuine. "Passages of the 
Indian Scripture itself," says Colebrooke, " seem to support 
the inference, for the fourth Yeda is not mentiened in the 
enumeration given in the white Yajush, nor in the follow- 
ing text quoted from the Sastras by the commentator on 
the Rich. " The Pig-veda originated from fire, the Yajur- 
Yeda from air, and the Saina-Yeda from the sun." Hence 
some hold the At h art an to be only a supplement to the 
others. The popular dictionary, Amara Singha, notices 
only three Yedas, and mentions the Atharvan without 
calling it one. 

The Sanhitd, or collection of prayers and invocations, 
belonging to the Atharvana, is comprised in twenty books 
(kdnda) subdivided into sections (anuvdka), hymns (sukta), 
and verses (rich). The number of verses is stated as 



DIVISIONS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 19 

6015 ; of sections, above 100 ; and the hymns amount to 
more than 760. 

The Atharvan contains many forms of imprecations for 
the destruction of enemies. But it also comprises a num- 
ber of prayers for safety and for averting calamities, as 
well as hymns to the gods with prayers to be used at 
solemn rites and religious exercises, excepting such as are 
named Yajna. The most remarkable part of the Atharvan 
consists of theological treatises, entitled Upanishads, which 
are appendant on it. They are computed as fifty- two in 
number, but in this reckoning different parts of a single 
tract are considered as distinct Upanishads. Four of such 
treatises, comprising eight Upanishads, together with six 
of those before described as appertaining to other Vedas, 
are perpetually cited in dissertations on the Vedanta, 
Others are more sparingly, or not at all, quoted. 

The Gopatha Brdhmana appears to belong to the second 
part of this Veda. The first chapter traces the origin 
of the universe from Brahma; and it appears from the 
fourth section of this chapter that Atharvan is considered 
as a Prajapati (or king) appointed by Brahma to create 
and protect subordinate beings. 

In the fifth chapter several remarkable passages, identi- 
fying the primeval person (Purusha) with the year 
(Samvatsara), convey marked allusions to the calendar. 

§ 6. Concluding Remarks on the Vedas. 

The genuineness of the Yedas in general has been full}' 
proved by Colebrooke and others ; that is, that they are 



20 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

the same compositions, which under the title of Yeda, 
have been revered by Hindus for hundreds, if not for 
thousands of years. From this opinion, however, are 
excepted the detached Upanishads, which are not received 
into the best collections of fifty-two theological tracts, 
belonging to the Atharva-veda ; and even some of those 
which are there inserted. Two of these Upanishads are 
particularly suspicious, viz., the Rama Tapaniya and the 
Gopal Tapaniya, from the well-known comparatively 
recent data of the worship of Rama and Krishna. So also 
every Upanishad that strongly favours the doctrines of 
these sects, may be rejected as liable to much suspicion. 

The Puranas relate multitudes of stories, which show 
what holy men these Yedic authors were. Thus Vyasa 
himself was illegitimate, and lived with his brother's wife, 
by whom he had two children. Vasishtha cursed his 
hundred children and degraded them to the rank of 
C/ianddlas. In the Rig-veda is given a hymn repeated by 
the sage to stop the barking of a dog while he was break- 
ing into a house to steal grain. Gautama cursed his wife 
for a criminal intrigue with Indra, and afterwards received 
her again ; and Bhrigu murdered his own mother by 
cutting off her head. 

The writers of the Vedas, too, disagree among them- 
selves, while the mythology there taught is no better 
than that of the Pur&nas. The natural philosophy of the 
Vedas is also ridiculous, and in speaking of the origin 
of things, they equal the Puranas in indelicacy and 
absurdity. 

The killing the inhabitants of the "three worlds" and 



PERIODS OF VEDIC LITERATURE. 21 

eating food with a person of inferior caste, are esteemed of 
equal magnitude by Manu, " the great grandson of 
Brahma, the first created of beings, and the holiest of 
legislators." 

§ 7. Periodical Distribution of Vedic Literature. 

Professor Max Miiller 1 divides what he calls the Vedic age 
into four periods, viz., (1) the Chhandas, (2) the Mantra, (3) 
the Brdhmana, and (4) the Sutra periods ; the last-named 
forming the connecting link between the Yedic and the 
later Sanskrit. He excludes from the Vedic age such 
works as the Mahabharata, Hamayana, Manu's Dharma 
Sastra, the Puranas, and all the Darsanas and Sastras 
generally, as later productions. 

"Another important division of Yedic works must be 
always borne in mind, viz., Sruti 2 (revelation) and Smriti 3 
(tradition). To the Sruti belong the Mantras and Brah- 
manas. The Smriti includes not only Sutras, but also 
Sloka works, such as the laws of Manu, Yajnavalkya, and 
Parasara, which sometimes are called the Smritis, in the 
plural. Most of these, if not all, are founded on Sutras, 
but the texts of the Sutras have been mostly superseded 
by these later metrical paraphrases. 

"The Smriti has no independent authority, but derives 

1 In his "History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature," from which valuable 
and erudite work the contents of this section have been extracted, though in a 
condensed form, mostly in the very words of the learned author. 

"^TkT " that which has been heard." 

*34Kf " that which has been remembered." 



22 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

its sanction from its intimate connection with the Sruti. 
For, as Kumarila remarks, ' Recollection is knowledge, 
the object of which is some previous knowledge ; and if 
Manu and other authors of Smritis had not originally 
been in possession of authoritative knowledge, it would be 
impossible to appeal to their recollection as an authority.' 
Accordingly, there is no passage in the Yeda to warrant 
the authority of Smriti." 

1. — Literature of the Chhaxdas Period. 

"The Sutra, Brahmana, and Mantra periods of Yedic 
literature, all point to some earlier age which gave birth 
to the poetry of the early Bishis. There was a time, 
doubtless, when the songs which were collected with such 
careful zeal in the Mantra period, commented on with 
such elaborate pedantry during the Brahmana period, and 
examined and analysed with such minute exactness during 
the Sutra period, lived and were understood without any 
effort by a simple and pious race. There was a time when 
the sacrifices, which afterwards became so bewildering a 
system of ceremonies, were dictated by the free impulse of 
the human heart, by a yearning to render thanks to some 
Unknown Being, and to repay in words and deeds a debt 
of gratitude, accumulated from the first breath of life — a 
time when the poet was the leader, the king and priest of 
his family or tribe ; listened to and looked up to as better, 
nobler and wiser than the rest, and as a being nearer to 
the gods in proportion as he was raised above the common 
level of mankind." Such men were at once teachers, law- 



THE CHHANDAS PERIOD. 23 

givers, poets and priests. Their teaching, poetry, and 
religion, simple and crude as they are, possess a peculiar 
charm, as spontaneous, original and truthful . 

" The greater portion of what we now possess of Yedic 
poetry must be ascribed to the Mantra (or Secondary) 
period ; but there still remains enough to give us an idea 
of an earlier race of Yedic poets. Even those earliest 
specimens of Yedic composition, however, belong clearly, 
as Bunsen remarks, to the modern history of the human 
race. Ages must have passed before the grammatical 
texture of the Yedic Sanskrit could have assumed the con- 
sistency and regularity which it shows throughout. The 
same applies to the religion of the Yeda. The earliest 
periods of its historic growth must have passed away long 
before the Bishis of India could have worshipped their 
Devas, or ' bright beings/ with sacred hyinns and invoca- 
tions. But we should look in vain in the literature of 
Greece or Rome, or of any other Aryan nation, for docu- 
ments from which to study that interesting chapter in the 
history of mankind — the transition from a natural into an 
artificial religion — so full and valuable as we possess them 
in the Yeda." 

The Chhandas period, interesting as it is in a philo- 
sophical point of view, is represented by a very limited 
literature. Several specimens of hymns to the gods, etc., 
are given by Max Midler, such as to Yaruua (ovpavos), 
Agni (fire), Indra (the king of the gods), the horse 
(Aswa), the dawn (Ushas), etc., and one to the Vis've 
Devas, or " all the gods." But, in more than one of these 
hymns, a belief in only one Supreme Divine Being (Mono- 



24 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. ■ 

theism), though, worshipped under various names, is clearly 
expressed in verses which the Yedantists frequently quote, 
and indeed have incorporated in their Upanishads. Some 
of the hymns (especially those of a philosophical cast) are 
doubtless comparatively modern and may be assigned to 
the Mantra period, at latest ; but those which belong 
clearly to an earlier date were probably composed between 
1000 and 1200 B.C., which Max Miiller thinks should be 
assigned to the Chhandas period. 

2. — Productions of the Mantba Period. 

" The only document we have in which we can study the 
character of the times previous to the Brahmana period is 
the Rig-veda Sanhitd. The other two Sanhitas (viz. of the 
Yajur-veda and the Sama-veda) were in truth, what they 
have been called, the ' attendants of the Rig-veda.' The 
Brahmanas presuppose the Trayi- Vidyd, the ' threefold 
knowledge,' or the threefold Yeda ; but that again pre- 
supposes one Yeda, and that the Rig-veda. It belongs to 
a period previous to the complete ascendancy of the Brah- 
manas, and before the threefold ceremonial had been worked 
out in all its details. And yet there is some system, some 
priestly influence, clearly distinguishable in that collection 
also. The ten books of the Rig-veda stand before us as 
separate collections, each belonging to one of the ancient 
families of India, but there are traces in them of one super- 
intending spirit. Eight out of the ten Mandalas begin with 
hymns addressed to Agni, and these, with one exception, 
are invariably followed by hymns addressed to Indra. 



THE MANTRA AND BRAHMANA PERIODS. 25 

This cannot be the result of mere accident, but must have 
been from previous agreement, and it leads us to conclude 
that the Mandalas were not made independently by dif- 
ferent families, but were collections carried out simul- 
taneously in different localities under the supervision of one 
central authority." 

Max Miiller fixes the probable chronological limits of 
the Mantra period between 800 and 1000 B.C. 

3. — Works of the Brahmana Period. 

(a.) Of the Brdhmanas. — It is difficult to give an ex- 
haustive definition of what a Brahmana is. " They were 
Brahmanic (i.e. theological) tracts, comprising the know- 
ledge most valued by the Brahmans, bearing partly 
on their sacred hymns, partly on the traditions and cus- 
toms of the people. They profess to teach the perform- 
ance of the sacrifice, but for the greater part are 
occupied with additional matter " chiefly connected with 
the Hindu faith and ceremonials. "A Brahmana," says 
Sayana in his Introduction to the Big- Veda, "is two- 
fold, containing either commandments (vidhi) or additional 
explanations (arthavdda) ." The Yeda consists of only two 
parts, the Mantras and the Brahmanas ; but the only par- 
ticular in which the former can be distinguished from 
the latter is in their more peculiarly sacrificial character. 
Whatever part of the Veda is not a Mantra, therefore, is a 
Brahmana, whatever be its subject-matter. Although 
different portions of the Yeda are often referred to under 
the designation of Ifihdsas (epic stories), Pur anas (cosmo- 



26 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

gonic stories), Kalpas (ceremonial rules), Gdthas (songs), 
JYdrdsansis (heroic poems), etc. — all these titles apply only 
to subdivisions of the Brahmanas. 

The number of the Brahmanas, such as we possess them 
in MSS., is much smaller than we should have expected 
from the definition thus given above by Sayana. " If every 
Sakha consisted of a Sanhita and a Brahmana, the number 
of the old Brahmanas must have been very considerable. 
It must not be supposed, however, that the Brahmanas 
which belonged to the different Sakhas were works com- 
posed independently by different authors. On the con- 
trary, as the Sanhitas of different Sakhas 1 were only dif- 
ferent recensions of one and the same original collection 
of hymns, so the Brahmanas, which were adopted by 
different Charanas 2 of the same Veda, must be considered 
not as so many independent works, but in most instances 
as merely different editions of the same common original." 

• ' There was originally but one body of Brahmanas for 
each of the three Yedas : for the Big-veda, the Brahmanas 
of the Bahvrichas ; for the Sama-Yeda, those of the 
Chhandogas ; and for the Yajur-Yeda, in its two forms, 
those of the Taittiriyas and the Satapat ha -brahmana. 
These works were not composed in metre, like the San- 
hitas, and were therefore more exposed to alteration in 
the course of a long-continued oral tradition." 

The Brahmana of the Bahvrichas is contained in the 

1 "STT^T I' 1 - " a branch" (•'.«. of the Veda considered as a tree) means 
sometimes "a division or part," sometimes "an edition or recension." 

2 ^P^I (tit- a '" 0, < ,nt ' r "°' °f a ^ ree > a feunily or race); is sometimes used 
as synonymous with TH^T, ;it others as a particular Brahmauical family 
or sect. 



BEAHMANAS OF THE CHHANDOGAS. 27 

Sakhas of the Aitareyins and the Kaushitakins, which are 
still extant. It is evident however that, though we do not 
now possess them, there were other Sakhas of the Bahvri- 
chas which differed but little in the wording of their 
Brahmanas. The Aitareya and Kaushitaki Brahmanas 
differ from one another considerably in their arrangement, 
but not to any extent otherwise. 

" In the Brahmanas of the Chhandogas it is evident that, 
after the principal collection was made (called the Praudha 
or Panchavinsa-brdhmana, i.e. consisting of twenty-five 
sections) a twenty- sixth was added, known by the name of 
the Shadvinsa-brdhmana. This however, together with the 
Adbhuta-brahmana, must be of very modern date. It 
mentions not only temples, but images of gods which are 
said to laugh, to cry, to sing, to dance, to sweat, and to 
twinkle. These two (the Praudha and Shadvinsa) have 
long been supposed to be the only Brahmanas of the 
Chhandogas ; but it is a curious fact that whenever the 
Chhandoga- brahmanas are quoted, their number is in- 
variably fixed at eight, which are expressly named by 
Sayana." But besides the Sama-vidh ana-brahman a, which 
is well-known, we have only one MS. (now in the Bodleian 
Library) containing four small tracts with the titles of so 
many others mentioned by Sayana, making seven in all. 
The eighth was the Chhandoga- Upanishad. " With the 
exception of this and the Sama-vidhana, which contains 
most important information on questions connected with 
A'chara, or customs, all the other tracts are of comparatively 
small importance. " 

"It is in the Satapatha-brdhmana that we can best observe 



28 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

the gradual accumulation of various theological and cere- 
monial tracts which were to form the sacred code of a new 
Charana. According to Indian traditions, Yajnavalkya 
Yajasaneya, the founder of the Charana of the Yajasaneyins, 
was, if not the author, at least the first promulgator of the 
Sanhita and Brahmana of the Charana so called." He and 
his adherents were seceders from the followers of the 
Adhvarya or Yajur-veda, the sacred text of which school 
we possess in the Taittiriya-veda. 

" The general name of the ancient Sakhas of the Yajur- 
veda is Charaka ; and the Taittiriyas, therefore, together 
with the Kathas and others, are called by the common 
title of Charaka- sakhas. This name (Charaka) is used in 
one of the Khilas (or 'supplements') of the Yajasaneyi- 
Sanhita as a term of reproach," evidently from a feeling 
of animosity against the ancient schools of the Adhvaryus. 

The chief difference between the Sanhita and Brahmana 
of the Yajasaneyins and those of the Charakas consists in 
the division of Mantras and Brahmanas, which is carried 
out more strictly in the works of the former school. " This 
was most likely the reason why the text of Yajnavalkya 
was called Sukla Yajur-veda, which is generally translated 
by the 'White Yajur-veda.' But some commentators 
explain Sukla more correctly by suddlia ('cleared'), be- 
cause in this new text the Mantras had been cleared and 
separated from the Brahmanas, and thus the whole been 
rendered more lucid and intelligible. In opposition to 
this they suppose that the old text was called Krishna, or 
'dark,' because in it the verses and rules are mixed 
together and less intelligible ; or because the rules of the 



BRAHMANA- AND SUTRA-CHARANAS. 29 

Hotri-, as well as of the Adhvaryu-priests, were con- 
tained in it, which, thus bewildered the mind of the stu- 
dent. 

" In the new code of the Yajasaneyins the most important 
part was the Brahmana, the Sanhita (which was probably 
a later production) being a mere collection of verses ex- 
tracted and collected for the convenience of the officiating 
priest." In the code of the Bahvrichas, the very opposite 
was the case. Here the Sanhita existed long before the 
Brahmanas, and it had diverged into Sakhas before the 
Brahmana of the Aitareyins was composed. 

(b.) Of the Brahmana- and Sutra- Char anas. — " That 
different Brahmanas existed before the great collective 
Brahmanas were composed, is proved not only by the 
testimony of Panini, but by quotations in the Brah- 
manas themselves. The original Charanas were not all 
rival s"6cts, and it was natural that one Charana should be 
ready to accept the Brahmanas of another, if they con- 
tained additional traditions or precepts which seemed 
valuable. Thus we find the Brahmanas of the Kathas 
added to those of the Taittiriyas. 

" What became of those numerous Brahmana-charanas 
which are quoted in the Brahmanas and in the Sutras is 
not quite clear. Most likely they were absorbed or re- 
placed by the more modern works, the Sutra-charanas. 
When the Sutras once came to be regarded as a part of 
the sacred canon, they gave rise to a large number of new 
Charanas." Most of the old Charanas were extinct shorty 
after the Sutra-period, and their works, as well as names, 
forgotten. In the Charanyaka Parisishta (a comparatively 



30 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

late production) the names of the Charanas of the different 
Vedas are given. 

Of the Rig-veda, five Charanas are mentioned. But 
while the names of several old Sakhas (such as the 
Aitareyins, the Kaushitakins, etc.) are omitted, the Asva- 
layanas, who are mentioned, must be considered as the 
founders of one of the latest Sakhas of that Veda. 

The number of Sakhas of the Tajur-veda is stated as 
eighty-six. We have, first, the twelve Charanas compre- 
hended under the common name of Charakas, including 
the Maitrayaniyas, which are subdivided into seven Cha- 
ranas ; next the Taittiriyas, subdivided into Aukhiyas and 
Khandikiyas ; these last comprise five Charanas — making 
twenty-seven in all. Then follow the fifteen Sakhas of the 
Vdjasaneyins. This brings the number only up to fortj^- 
two, or including the Vajasaneyins, forty-three, exactly 
half the stated number, eighty- six. Of even the names 
of the remaining Sakhas we have now no record. 

The largest number of Sakhas is ascribed to the Sdma- 
veda. It is said to have been one thousand ; but the 
greater part of them no longer exist. Of the Atharra- 
veda nine divisions are mentioned, but the names given 
are incomplete and corrupt. 

It is impossible now to determine which of the Charanas 
owe their origin to Sutras, and which to Brahmanas or 
Sanhitas. Some of them certainly existed previously to 
the Sutra-period, whilst others as evidently must be re- 
ferred to the Brahmana-period, such, e.g., as those ascribed 
to Yajnavalkya. Most likely the Sanhita-charanas are 
restricted to the Eig-veda. It is certain, at least, that 



DISTINCTION BETWEEN CHARANAS AND GOTRAS. 31 

no Brahmanas belonging to anj^ Yeda were composed 
before the division of priests into Hotris, Udgatris and 
Adhvaryas bad taken place. Before then there was but 
one collection of hymns, that of the Bahvrichas ; and it is 
among the Bahvrichas only that we have any distinct 
traces of Sanhita-charanas. 

It is difficult to assign a distinctive meaning to the 
terms Char ana and Sdkhd. By the latter, however, we 
may understand a particular book or recension of a work, 
while we should reserve the name of Char ana for those 
ideal successions, or fellowships, to which all belonged who 
read and received as their standard the same Sakha. 

We must distinguish, however, between a Charana and 
a Gotra. "A Gotra, or Kula, means a family ; and the 
number of families that had a right to figure in the 
Brahmanic peerage of India was very considerable. The 
Brahmans were proud of their ancestors, and preserved 
their memory with the most scrupulous care. Gfotras 
existed among Kshatriyas and Vaisyas, as well as among 
Brahmans ; but Charanas were confined to the priestlv 
caste. Gotras depended on a real or imaginary com- 
munity of blood ; Charanas on the community of sacred 
texts. They were ideal fellowships, held together by ties 
more sacred in the eyes of a Brahman than the mere ties 
of blood. Members of different Gotras might belong to 
the same Charana. When the member of a Gotra became 
the founder of a new Charana, that Charana might bear 
the name of its founder and thus become synonymous, but 
not identical, with a Gotra. 

"All Brahmanic families who keep the sacred fire are 



32 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

supposed to descend from the seven Bis Ms (or saints). 
These are : Bkrigu, Angiras, Visvdmitra, Vasisktka, Kds- 
yapa, Atri, and Agasti. 

"The real ancestors, however, are eight in number, viz. 
Jamadagni, Gautama, and Bharadi'dja, Visvdmitra, Va- 
sisktka, Kdsyapa, Atri, and Agastya. 

"'The eight Grotras which descend from these Rishis are 
again sub-divided into forty-nine Gotras, and these forty- 
nine branch off into a still larger number of families. The 
names gotra, vansa, varga, paksha, and gana are all used 
in the same sense, to express the larger as well as smaller 
families, descended from the eight ancestral Rishis. 

"A Brahman, who keeps the sacrificial fire, is obliged 
hj law to know to which of the forty-nine Gotras his own 
family belongs, and in consecrating his own fire he must 
invoke the ancestors who founded the Gotra of his family. 
Each of the Gotras claims one, two, three or five ancestors, 
and the names of these ancestors constitute the distinctive 
character of each Gotra. A list of these forms part of 
most of the Kalpa-sutras." 

These lists had a practical bearing on two most im- 
portant acts of ancient Brahmanic society, viz. the con- 
secrating of the sacrifcialjire, and marriage. 

"When the fire is to be consecrated, Agni Haryardkana, 
the god who carries the libations to heaven, must be in- 
voked. This invocation is called pravara (T&X)," i.e. 
"family," because when making it the consecrating priest 
had then to repeat the name of his ancestors. "Agni him- 
self, or the fire, is called A'rskeya ("the offspring of the 
Rishis"), because the Rishis first lighted him at their 



THE GOPATHA BRAHMANA. 33 

sacrifices. He is the Hotri as well as Adhvaryu among 
the gods, and is supposed to invite the gods to the sacri- 
fice, and to carry himself the oblation to the seat of the 
immortals. 

"To marry a woman belonging to the same Gotra, or 
having the same Pravara, was considered incest, and 
visited with severe penance. There are exceptions, how- 
ever, to this rule among the Bhrigus and Angirasas." 
Three out of the thirteen Gotras of the Bhrigus may 
intermarry. 

The Brahmanas represent a most interesting phase in 
the history of the Indian mind ; but, judged by themselves 
as literary productions, they cannot be matched anywhere 
for pedantry and downright absurdity. Their general 
character is marked by shallow and insipid grandiloquence, 
by priestly conceit and antiquarian pedantry. They are 
not the work of only a few individuals. The most modern 
differ very little in style from the most ancient ; but Max 
Miiller considers that the Brahmana period extended over 
at least 200 years, viz., from about 600 to about 800 B.C. 

" There is one work connected with the Brahmana period 
which deserves special mention, viz., the Gopatha Brdlt^ 
mana. This is the Brahmana of the Brahma-veda, the Veda 
of the Artharvdngiras' f or the Bhrigu-Angiras'. This Veda 
does not belong properly to the sacred literature of the 
Brahmans, and though in later times it obtained the title 
of the Fourth Veda, there was originally a broad distinc- 
tion between the magic formulas contained in it and the 
hymns of the Bahvrichas, the Chhandogas, and the 
Adhvaryus." The Veda is generally spoken of by the 



34 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

Brahmans either as one, or as threefold, viz., the Rich, 
the Yajush, and the Saman. "The duties of the Hotri 
priests are described in the Rig-veda, those of the Adhvaryu 
in the Yajur, and those of the Udgdtri in the Sdma-veda. 
The duties of the Brahman and the sacrifices are contained 
in all three. The Atharva-veda, on the contrary, is not 
used for the sacrifice, but only teaches how to appease, to 
bless, to curse, etc. But though the hymns of the Atharvans 
were not from the first looked upon as part of the sacred 
literature of the Brahmans, the Brahmana of the Athar- 
vans belongs clearly to the same literary period with the 
other Brahmanas, and though it does not share the same 
authority with those of the three great Yedas, it is written 
in the same language and breathes the same spirit." 

(c.) Of the A'ranyakas and Upanishads. The Brah- 
manas differ in style both from the Sutras and from 
the Mantras, and are supposed to have come into ex- 
istence at a period intermediate between them. But 
as between the Sutras and the later Sanskrit literature 
we shall find a connecting link in the writings known 
under the name of Parisisthas, so, between the Brah- 
mana and the Sutra periods, we meet with a class of 
works of intermediate dates, viz. : the Aranyakas, or 
" Treatises of the Forests." These were so called, as Sayana 
informs us, because they had to be read in the forest. " It 
might almost seem as if they were intended for the Vana- 
prasthas only, people who, after having performed all the 
duties of a student and a householder, retire from the 
world to the forest to end their days in the contemplation 
of the Deity. In several instances the Aranyakas form 



THE ARANYAKAS AND UPANISHADS. 35 

part of the Brahmanas, and they are thus made to share 
the authority of Sruti, or revelation. The most important 
Upanishads, which are full of philosophy and theology, 
form part of the ^ranyakas, and (particularly in later 
times) the i^ranyaka was considered the quintessence of 
the Vedas." 

The Xranyakas pre-suppose the existence of the Brah- 
manas, and may be considered as enlargements upon 
them. " The philosophical chapters, known by the 
name of Upanishads, are almost the only portion of Yedic 
literature which is extensively read to this day. They are 
supposed to contain the highest authority on which the 
various systems of philosophy in India rest. The founders 
of the various systems, if they have any pretensions to 
orthodoxy, invariably appeal to some passage in the 
Upanishads in order to substantiate their own reasonings." 
However, when none of the ancient Upanishads could be 
found to suit their purpose (liberal and conflicting as they 
often are), the founders of new sects had no scruple and 
no difficulty in composing new Upanishads of their own. 
This accounts for the large and ever increasing number of 
these treatises, the most modern of which seem now to 
enjoy the same authority as the really ancient and genuine. 
The original Upanishads had their places in the Brah- 
marias and Aranyakas, but chiefly in the latter. 

The etymology of the word TJpankliad is doubtful. It 

seems, however, to signify sitting dozen near somebody, in 

order to listen, or to meditate and worship (from vpa + ni 

-\-sad). 

The names of the authors of the principal Upanishads 



36 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

are unknown. There are but ten which are now generally- 
studied in Bengal, viz., the Brihadaranyaka, the Aitareya, 
Chhandogya, Taittiriya, Isa, Kena, Katha, Prasna, Mun- 
daka, and Mandukya ; which have all been printed. 
Panxmohan Pay published several of them with notes 
and translations ; and, more recently, an excellent edition 
of them all (both text and commentary), by Dr. Poer, has 
appeared in the volumes of the Bibliotheca Indica. 

4. — Literature of the Sutra Period. 

"The period of the Sutra literature of India extends 
from 600 to 200 B.C., during which the Yedangas, Anu- 
krumanis, etc., were composed. This was posterior to the 
Mantra and Brahmana periods, and to that of the Yedas 
generally. 

" The productions of the Sutra period form the connecting 
link between the Yedic and the later Sanskrit literature. 
But whilst, on the one hand, we must place several works 
written in Sutras under the head of the post- Yedic or 
modern Sanskrit, we also find others which must be con- 
sidered as the last productions of the Yedic age, trespassing 
in a certain degree upon the frontiers of the later Sanskrit. 

"The word Sutra {w%) literally means 'a string;' and 
all the works written in this style, on subjects the most 
various, are nothing but one uninterrupted string of short 
sentences, twisted together into the most concise form. 
Shortness is the great object of this style of composition, 
and it is a proverbial saying (taken from the Maha- 
bhashya) amongst the Pandits, that 'an author rejoiceth 
in the economizing of half a short vowel as much as in the 



ANUYRITTI AND NIRVRITTI. 37 

birth of a son.' Every doctrine thus propounded, whether 
grammar, metre, law, or philosophy, is reduced to a mere 
skeleton. All the important points and joints of a system 
are laid open with the greatest precision and clearness, 
but there is nothing in these works like connection or 
development of ideas. ' Even the apparent simplicity of 
the design/ as Colebrooke remarks, ' vanishes in the 
perplexity of the structure. The endless pursuit of ex- 
ceptions and limitations so disjoins the general precepts, 
that the reader cannot keep in view their intended con- 
nection and mutual relation. He wanders in an intricate 
maze, and the clew of the labyrinth is continually slipping 
from his hands." There is no life or meaning in these 
Sutras, except what either a teacher or running com- 
mentary, by which these works are usually accompanied, 
may impart to them. Many of these works go even fur- 
ther : they not only express their fundamental doctrines 
in this concise form of language, but they coin a new kind 
of language, by which they succeed in reducing the whole 
system of their tenets to mere algebraical formulas. The 
key to this system is generally given in separate Sutras, 
called Paribhdshd, which a pupil must know by heart, or 
have always present before his eyes, if he is to advance 
one step in the reading of such works. But even then it 
would be impossible to arrive at any real understanding 
of the subject, without being also in possession of the laws 
of the so-called Anuvritti and Nirvritti. 

" To explain the meaning of these technical words, we 
must remember that the Sutras generally begin by putting 
forward one proposition (Adhikara) which is never after- 



38 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

wards repeated, but always to be understood, till a new 
subject of the same kind is introduced. After the state- 
ment of a subject, the author goes on by giving a first 
rule, which may extend its influence over the next follow- 
ing rules, whether these be restrictions or amplifications 
of it. These restrictive rules again exercise their influence 
to a certain extent over other rules, so that the whole 
becomes one continuous chain, each link of which is held 
and modified by others, itself holding to and modifying 
the rest. The influence of one rule over the others is 
called Anuvritti, its cessation Nirvritti. Without knowing 
the working of these two laws, which can only be learned 
from commentaries, the Sutras appear very much confused. 
This is particularly the case in those works where the so- 
called Mimansa method of Piirva-paksha (reasons contra), 
Uttara-paksha (reasons pro) and Siddhimta (conclusion) is 
adopted. Here the concatenation of pros and cons is often 
so complicated, and the reasons on both sides defended by 
the same author with such seriousness, that we sometimes 
remain doubtful to which side the author himself leans, 
till we arrive at the end of the whole chapter. 

" To introduce and to maintain such a species of literature 
was only possible with the Indian system of education, 
which consisted in little else except implanting these 
Sutras and other works into the tender memory of chil- 
dren, and afterwards explaining them by commentaries 
and glosses. An Indian pupil learns these Sutras of 
grammar, philosophy, or theology, by the same mechanical 
method which fixes in our minds the alphabet and the 
multiplication-table; and those who enter on a learned 



THE SUTRAS, S'RUTI AND SMRITI. 39 

career spend half their life in acquiring and practising 
them, until their memory is strengthened to such an un- 
natural degree, that they know by heart not only these 
Sutras, but also their commentaries, and commentaries 
upon commentaries. Instances of this are found among 
the learned in India up to the present day. 

" The numerous Sutra works which we still possess, con- 
tain the quintessence of all the knowledge which the 
Brahmans had accumulated during many centuries of 
study and meditation. Though they are the works of 
individuals, they owe to their authors little more than 
their form ; and even that form was, most likely, the 
result of a long- continued system of traditional teaching, 
and not the invention of a few individuals. 

" There is a great difference, according to the Hindus 
themselves, between a work composed previously to the 
Sutra period and a Sutra composition. The difference of 
style between a Brahmana and a Sutra work (with the 
exception of some Kalpa-Sutras) is most striking, though, 
as regards the grammatical forms, Yedic irregularities are, 
according to Sanskrit grammarians, allowed in Sutras 
also. But there is a still more important difference besides 
that of style. Literary works belonging to the preceding 
periods, the Brahmanas as well as the Mantras, are con- 
sidered by Indian theologians as forming the Sruti, or 
divine revelation, in contradistinction to the Sutras and 
all the rest of their literature. In the dogmatical language 
of orthodox Hindus, the works which contain the Sruti 
have not been composed, but have only been seen or per- 
ceived by men, i.e. they have been revealed to them. 



40 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

The Sutras, on the contrary, although based on the Sruti, 
and therefore in some instances also called Srauta Sutras, 
are yet avowedly composed by human authors. Whenever 
they appear to be in contradiction with the Sruti, their 
authority is at once overruled, and only in cases where 
anterior evidence is wanting from the Sruti, can they have 
any claim to independent authority. 

"This distinction has ever been the stronghold of the 
hierarchical pretensions of the Brahmans. We can easily 
understand how a nation might be led to ascribe a super- 
human origin to their ancient national poetry, particularly 
if consisting chiefly of prayers and hymns addressed to their 
gods. But the reason why the prose compositions of the 
Brahmanas, which are evidently so much more modern 
than the Mantras, were allowed to participate in the name 
of Sruti, could only have been because it was from these 
theological compositions, and not from the simple old 
poetry of the hymns, that a supposed divine authority 
could be derived for the greater number of the ambitious 
claims of the Brahmans. We can find no reason why the 
Sutras should not also have been ranked as Sruti, except 
the lateness of their date, if compared with the Brah- 
manas, and still more with the Mantras." 

The distinction between Sruti ("revelation") and Smriti 
("tradition") had been established by the Brahmans pre- 
viously to the rise of Buddhism, and it was their claiming 
a divine origin for the Brahmanas that mainly led to the 
schism and successful opposition of Buddha. 



41 



CHAPTER II. 

Otf THE DHAEMA SASTEAS, OE SACEED SCEIPTUEES, 
SUPPLEMEKTAEY TO THE VEDAS. 

§ 1. Generally Described. 

These belong partly to the Brahmana and partly to the 
Sutra periods of Sanskrit literature, and consist of : 

1. — The Vedanta ( c (<»'"i" ^"d? "end, object, or scope.") 

Under this name there is an ancient work in Sanskrit, 
by Vydsa, or Jaimini, said to have been composed above 
two thousand years ago, and to contain an abstract, or 
quintessence, of all the Yedas united. This work is also 
known as the Purvvd Mimdnsd, that is, the first or most 
ancient enquiry, in opposition to the Uttard or Brahma 
Mimdnsd, one of the Philosophical systems. The great 
authorities for its doctrine are the works called the Vedanta 
Sutra and the Brahma Sutra. The commentary on these 
by Sankara i^chiirya 1 is the best. Rammohan Ray pub- 
lished a translation of the Yedanta into Bengali, with an 
interesting preface, in 1815. For further remarks on the 
Vedanta and Mimansa doctrines, see the account of these 
Darsanas under the " Philosophical systems." 

1 Placed by Colcbrooke at the beginning of the 9th century. 



42 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

2.— The Upa- Yedas ( "^XJ, "near, or joined to," -f-^?). 

These supplementary Yedas are said to be immediately 
deduced from the Yedas themselves. They are four in 
number. 

The first, called the Xjus (W^TEC or ^T^t "age"), is said 
to have been delivered by Brahma, Indra, Dhanvantari and 
five other deities, and comprises the theory of diseases and 
medicines, with the practical methods of treating bodily 
disorders. 

The second, viz., the Gandharvva (^F^nf "a celestial min- 
strel") a treatise on music, was composed by Bharata. 

The third, called the Bhanus (^T«J^or ^I«J "a bow"), on 
the fabrication and use of arms and implements employed 
by the Kshatriya caste, was written by Yisvamitra. 

The fourth, called the Sthdpatya (^TOST "guard of the 
women's apartments"), or the Silpa (fl^T "a mechanical 
art"), was revealed by Yisvamitra also, in various trea- 
tises on sixty-four mechanical arts, for the improvement 
of such as exercise them. 

'Of the more minute contents of the above works, we 
have as yet no accurate information. Indeed it is believed 
that they are now lost. 

Upon Music, as forming part of the religion of the 
Hindus, there is a treatise by Sir William Jones. 

3. — Tiie Vedangas (<f<S \^'y "member of the Veda.") 

These are considered as in some sense a subordinate 
part of the Yedas. Six sciences are treated of in them, 
viz. : — 



THE VEDANGAS. 43 

1. Sikshd (fui^O, 1 or the science of pronunciation and 

articulation. 

2. Chhandas (g^*0> prosody, by the Muni Pingala. 

3. Vydkarana (<*n«HVU'), or grammar, by three Rishis. 

4. Nirukta (f^H£3f), or the explanation of difficult or 

obscure words and phrases that occur in the Yedas. 

5. Kalpa («B^T), an account of religious ceremonies. 

6. Jyotisha (33ftf?R), on astronomy or astrology, by 

Surya. 

4.— The Upangas (\Jm^ "additional limbs"). 

These are four in number, viz., the Pur ana, or history ; 
the Nydya, or logic ; the Mimdnsd, or moral philosophy ; 
and the Dharma Sdstra, or jurisprudence. 

§ 2. Particular Description of the Veddngas. 

The Siksha and Chhandas are considered necessary for 
reading the Veda ; the Yyakarana and Nirukta for under- 
standing it; and the Jyotisha and Kalpa for employing 
it at sacrifices. 

1. The Sikshd. — Max Midler thinks that the rules of 
Sikshd were formerly embodied in the work called the 
Taittinya Aranyaka, and perhaps also in the Brahmanas, 
though they afterwards lost their place there. This he 
accounts for by the appearance, subsequently, of more 
scientific treatises on the same subjects, treated more 
systematically, viz. : 

(a) The Prdtisdkhyas. The origin of these he thus 

1 A desiderative from ^j ('Ho be able"), meaning literally a "desire to 
know." Hence also, IJTrfi; "a teacber." 



44 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

describes : " During the Brahmana period the songs of the 
Veda were preserved by oral tradition only : and as the 
spoken language of India had advanced and left the idiom 
of the Yeda behind as a sort of antique and sacred utterance, 
it was difficult to preserve the proper pronunciation of the 
sacred hymns without laying down certain rules on metre, 
accent, and pronunciation in general. The necessity, how- 
ever, of such a provision could hardly have been felt 
until certain differences had actually arisen in different 
seats of Brahmanic learning. Thus, when the attempt 
was made to prevent a further corruption, a certain num- 
ber of local varieties in accent and pronunciation, and in 
the recital of the hymns, had actually crept in and become 
sanctioned by the tradition of different families and schools. 
We find in the Brahmanas occasional mention of verses 
which, if improperly pronounced, become changed in 
meaning." 

" In the Pratisakhyas, the rules and exceptions of the 
old sacred dialect were first reduced to a system. The 
real object of the Pratisakhyas was not to teach the 
grammar of the old sacred language; they are never 
called Vydkaranas (grammars), and it is only incidentally 
that they allude to strictly grammatical questions. The 
perfect phonetic system on which Panini's Grammar is 
built is no doubt taken from the Pratisakhyas ; but the 
source of Panini's strictly grammatical doctrines must be 
looked for elsewhere." This work, though ascribed to one 
author, must have required ages of observation and collec- 
tion before its plan could be conceived or carried out by 
one individual. 



THE SAKHAS AND PRATISAKHYAS. 45 

(b.) The Sdkhds were recensions of the different Yedas, and 
originally there appear to have been several of each Yeda ; 
but these differed from one another, not in the general 
arrangement of the Sanhitd, or collection of hymns, but 
merely in single words or phrases. In a few cases only, 
one Sakha contains some hymns more than another. Only 
in a few instances have different Sakhas of the same Yeda 
been preserved in manuscripts. Of the Rig-veda, for in- 
stance, only one MS. Sakha is now extant, viz., the Sdkala- 
Sdkhd. Each Sakha had probably its Prdtisdkhya. Sau- 
naka's Pratisakhya of the Sakala, being one of the latest 
compositions of the kind, was probabfy also the most 
perfect. Though only one Pratisakhya belonging to each 
Yeda has been found in MS., yet they all belong, not to 
one of the four Yedas in general, but to one Sakha of each 
of them. Panini's Sikshd (rules of pronunciation) applies 
to all the Yedas in general. The Pratisakhyas give these 
rules as applied to each Sakha. 

The term Sakha (literally " branch") has been erro- 
neously used by some writers in the sense of a "school," 
or of a "portion of the Yeda." The proper meaning, 
however, says Max Muller, is " Traditional text (recension) 
of the Yeda." " The word is sometimes applied to the 
three original Sanhltds, the Eig-veda, the Yajur-veda, 
and the Sama-veda Sanhita, in their relation to one 
another, and without any reference to subordinate Sakhas 
belonging to each of them. They may be called the 
original branches or the three stems of the Yeda-tree, each 
of them branching off again in a number of other Sdkhds. 
The ' branches,' as Kumarila says, have all the same root, 



46 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

revelation (Sruti), and they bear all the same fruit, the 
sacrifice (kannan). If otherwise, they would be different 

trees, not different branches More frequently, 

however, Sakha is used to signify the various editions, or, 
more properly, the various traditions, that branched off 
from each of the three original branches of the Yeda. In 
this latter sense, Sdkhd seems sometimes synonymous with 
Charana. But there was originally an important difference 
in the meaning of these two terms." 

(c.) The Char anas. Sakha means originally a literary 
work ; Charana, a school or collection of readers. Accord- 
ingly we meet with such expressions as Sdkhdm adhite 
(\m<Sl^ ^nft^), "he reads a certain edition of the Yeda," 
but never Charanam adhite (^TTJTI ^>41d), " he reads a 
Charana" 

" If Sakha is sometimes used in the sense of Charana or 
sect, this is because in India the Sakhas existed, in reality, 
not as written books, but only in the tradition of the 
Charanas, each member of a Charana representing and 
embodying what, in our modern times, we should call the 
copy of a book. Women, even, are mentioned as belonging 
to a Charana. A Sakha, which is always a portion of the 
Sruti, cannot properly include law books. But followers of 
certain Sakhas might well, in the course of time, adopt a 
code of laws which, as it was binding on their Charana 
only, would naturally go by the name of their Charana. 
Thus the Pratisakkjras also were called by the name of the 
Charanas, because they were the exclusive property of the 
readers of certain Sakhas, and even more so than the 
Kuladharmas, or family laws. 



THE CHARANAS AND PARISHADS. 47 

"As a Sakha consisted of a Sanhita as well as a Brah- 
mana, differences in the text of the hymns, as well as in 
the Brahmanas, might lead to the establishment of new 
Charanas, founded as they were on sacred texts peculiar to 
themselves. But, although we cannot doubt that there 
was an original difference between Sakha and Charana, it 
is certain that these two words were frequently used 
synonymously, just as we may speak of the Jews when we 
mean the Old Testament, or of the Koran when we mean 
the Mahommedans." 

(d.) The Parshada and Parishads. As the terms Sakha 
and Charana are frequently confounded, so also are those 
of Parshada and Pratisakhya. 

" Though every Pratisakhya may be called a Parshada 
(i.e. a word belonging to a Parishad) not every Parshada 
can be called a Pratisakhya. Amara (the great Hindu 
lexicographer) explains Parishad by Sabhd or Goshthi, "an 
assembly." But in Manu's code of laws, and elsewhere, 
we have the more definite application of the term. Ac- 
cording to these writers, a Parishad ought to consist of 
twenty-one Brahmans well versed in philosophy, theology, 
and law. It was such an assembly as should be competent 
to give decisions on all points on which the people generally 
might demand advice. That such Parishads or Brahmanic 
settlements existed in olden times, is certain from our 
reading in the Vrihadaranyaka, for instance, that "Swe- 
taketu went to the Parishad of the Panchalas," and many 
similar passages. Parasara says, "Pour, or even three 
able men from among the Brahmans in a village, who know 
the Yeda and keep the sacrificial fire, form a Parishad" 



48 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

" The real difference between a Charana and a Parishad 
seems to be that the former signifies an ideal succession of 
teachers and pupils who learn and teach a certain branch 
of the Yeda ; while the latter means a settlement of Brah- 
mans, a community or college, to which members of any 
Charana might belong. Thus the members of the same 
Charana might belong to different Parishads, and of the 
same Parishad to different Charanas. 

(e.) The Kula-dharmas, or Law Books, could not be 
called Pratisakhyas, but they might claim the title of 
Charanas or Parshadas. " These Dharma Sdstras, as we now 
possess them, betray their comparatively modern origin 
by their form and metre, and occasionally by their matter 
also. They were probably made up only in order to fill 
up the gap which had been occasioned by the loss of 
ancient law books. This loss was felt the more severely 
because the names of the old authors retained their cele- 
brity, and were still quoted in common practice and courts 
of law. Large portions of the Kula-dharmas are written 
in Sutras, as might be expected in works contemporaneous 
with the Pratisakhyas. It has been thought that the 
sources of Manu's, and other Dharma Sastras, must be 
looked for in the Grihya-Sutras. This is not quite correct. 
The Grihya-Sutras are concerned chiefly with the Sa?iskdras, 
or domestic sacraments, extending from the birth to the 
marriage of a man ; and in so far only as these sacraments 
form a portion of the subjects treated of in the Dharma 
Sastras, the Grihya-Sutras might be considered as their 
original sources. By far the greater portion of these 
Dharma-Sastras, or codes of law, is taken up with i^chara, 



MANU. THE CHHANDAS. 49 

i.e. laws, manners and customs, and especially the duties 
to be performed by an individual on bis own behalf. They 
are of great importance for forming a correct view of the 
old state of society in India, and the loss of the larger 
number of them is greatly to be regretted." 

" The Manava-dharma-S&stra, the law book of the Ma- 
navas, a subdivision of the sect of the Taittirij^as, or, as it is 
commonly called, the ' Laws of Manu/ l is almost the only 
work in Sanskrit literature," observes Max Midler, " which, 
as yet, has not been assailed by those who doubt the an- 
tiquity of everything Indian. No historian has disproved 
its claim to that early date which had from the first been 
assigned to it by Sir William Jones. It must be confessed, 
however, that his proofs of the antiquity of this code 
cannot be considered as conclusive, and no sufficient argu- 
ments have been brought forward to substantiate any of 
the different dates ascribed to Manu, as the author of our 
Law-Book, which vary, according to different writers, 
from 880 to 1280 B.C." 

2. The Chliandas, or Prosody, which is reckoned the 
second part of the Vedangas, stands very much in the 
same position as the Siksha. Some names which have 
been afterwards adopted as the technical designations of 
metres, occur in some of the Mantras of the Rig-veda, 
and there are frequent allusions to metres in the Brah- 
ma i;.as. What is said in the Brahmanas, however, on this 

1 Ma inu called also Swayambhdva (or the "self-existent") is affirmed in the 
jhtrdnas to have been the son of Brahma, and one of the earliest progenitors 
of mankind. Ee is said also to have been the preserver of the Vedaa at the 
time of the Hindu deluge, and to have given an abstract of the contents of 
those books in the famous work known as the Institutes of Manu, first trans- 
lated into English by Sir William Jones. 



50 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

subject is in general so full of dogmatic and mystical 
ingredients as to be of scarcely any practical use. In the 
Aranyakas and Upanishads whole chapters are devoted to 
prosody. But it is in the Sutras of the Chhandas only 
that a real attempt has been made to arrange these archaic 
metres systematically. 

" The work of Pingalanaga on Chhandas, which is most 
frequently quoted under the title of Yedanga, does not 
pretend to be of greater antiquity than the Mahdbhdshya, 
if it be admitted that Patanjali, the author of this famous 
commentary on Panini, was the same as Pingala." This 
work is one of the latest that could possibly be included 
in the Sutra period, and to that it probably belonged. 
Pingala, at any rate, is quoted as an authority in the Pari- 
sishtas, a class of literature which does not seem to be 
separated from that period by a long interval. 

Two other works on Chhandas (also, like Pingala's, not 
restricted to certain Sakhas, but intended for the Yeda in 
general) are referred to by the commentator on the Sdkala- 
Prdtisdkhya, the one ascribed to Ydska and the other to 
Saitava. But neither work appears to be extant now. 

3. VydJcarana, or Grammar, forms the third Yedanga. 
According to Indian authors, this branch of Ycdic learning 
would be represented by the grammar of Panini. But in 
that celebrated work "the rules which refer to Yedic gram- 
mar in particular, form only the exceptions to those which 
are applicable to the regular or classical language. In- 
stead, therefore, of considering the third Yedanga doctrine 
as represented by grammarians beginning with Panini 
("TT'fiin'Sn^r), as Indian writers do, it would be more 



PANINI. THE NIRUKTA. 51 

correct to say that it is represented by the grammarians 
ending with Panini (tTTftpftrn)- Panini's work, however, 
by its merits, acquired such a celebrity as to supersede 
almost all that had been written on the subject before him ; 
so that, except the names and some particular rules of 
former grammarians, we have little left of this branch of 
literature, except what occurs occasionally in the Prati- 
sakkyas. And, by a comparison of Panini's Sutras with 
those of the Pratisakkyas, it is evident that he largely 
availed himself of the works of his predecessors, frequently 
adopting their very expressions, though he quotes their 
names but rarely, and only as authorities for special rules. 
There are two separate treatises on grammatical subjects 
which belong to a period anterior to Panini, viz. the Sutras 
on the Undcli (^*mfc^) affixes, and the Sutras of Sdntan- 
dchdrya on accents. The Unadi affixes are those by which 
nouns are formed from roots. They are so called because 
in the Sutras, as we now possess them, un (^^) is the 
first mentioned affix." We do not know by whom those 
Sutras were first composed. They seem to have been 
originally intended for the Yeda only, but afterwards 
enlarged by the addition of rules for the formation of non- 
Veda (Bhasha) words. It is uncertain to what exact 
period the Phitsiitras of Sunt ana belong." 

4. Nirukta, or Etymology, is the fourth Yedanga. This, 
like the Yyakarana, is represented by but one work, 
generally known by the name, Ydskas Nirukta. lie seems 
to have been one of the last authors who embodied the 
etymological lexicograph)^ of Vedic terms (to which it 
exclusively refers) in one separate work. Other previous 



HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITEEATURE. 

Niruktaras (or authors of Niruktas) are mentioned by 
Faska, some of whom must have been as famous as 
himself, and are likewise referred to in the Puranas. The 
Brahmanas contain very rich materials for etymologies 
and synonymous expressions; and, with the exception of 
the Kalpa, no oilier Vedanga has a better claim than the 
Nirukta to be considered as founded on the Brahmanas. 
Ydska's Nirukta (which is commonly distinguished by the 
name of Nighantu) and Ydska's Commentary on the Nirukta 
were two separate works, though often confounded. The 
Nirukta consists of three parts, viz., the Naighantuka, the 
Naigama, and the Baivata. 

The word Nighantu applies to works where, for most 

part, synonymous terms are taught. Ten Nighantus are 

usually mentioned, including the works of Amara-Sinha, 

Vaipiyaiiti, llalayudha, etc. Hence the first part of 

Nirukta is called Naighantuka, comprising the 

oral thnc Adhy&yaB. Nigama means Yeda, and, as in the 

Beoond part, words are taught which usually occur in the 

v « d;i only, the title of Naigama (the fourth Adhyaya) is 

given to it. The Daivata (the fifth Adhyaya) is so named 

from its treating of the gods l^TT), viz., of the earth, of 

tli" aii, and of the sky. The whole work, consisting of 

Ldhyayas (or chapters) and three parts, is called 

Nirukta fawifi , because the meaning of words is given there 

ctive of anything else : from wreath, "to explain." 

Kaipa, or i woroa/.— This is the fifth and most 

complete of the Vedangas, lor which we have not only the 

the (lilleivni Vedas, hut, also their respective 

• N| '!i "The Sutras contain the rules referring- to the 



THE KALPA SUTRAS. 5^ 

Sacrifices, with, the omission of all things which are not 
immediately connected with the performance of the cere- 
monial. They are more practical than the Brahmanas, 
which, for most part, are taken up with mystical, historical, 
mythological, etymological, and theological discussions." 
Orthodox Brahmans do not admit that Brahmanas and 
Sutras belong to the same class of literature. The former 
was Sruti, the latter Smriti. Originally a Brahmana was a 
theological tract, and was called so, not because it treated of 
the Brahman, the Supreme Spirit, or of sacrificial prayers, 
but because it was composed by and for Brahmans. These 
Brahmanas were gradually collected in different families, 
or Pari shads, and gave rise to greater works, which were 
equally called Brahmanas. The Sutras were later compo- 
sitions, in which the Brahmanas were more systematically 
arranged. 

" The Kalpa Sutras follow the same system as the Brah- 
manas. They pre- suppose, however, not only the existence 
of three distinct collections of Brahmanas, but of different 
Sakhas, or recensions, which in the course of time had 
branched off from each of them." The Kalpa Sutras were 
composed contemporaneously with Panini, and even after 
his time. They form a kind of grammar of the Yedic cere- 
monials, useful for the members of all Charanas, recording 
the duties of the different orders of priests, viz. the Hotri, 
Adhvarya, and Udgdtri. 

There were two other classes of Sutras, forming a sort 
of appendices to the Kalpa Sutras, and belonging to the 
same branch of literature with the Srauta Sutras, but in 
distinction from them included under the title of Smarta 



54 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

Sutras, as deriving their authority from Smriti, or im- 
memorial tradition, the others being founded on the Sruti, 
i.e. the Mantras and Brahmanas. These additional Sutras 
were called the Grihya and the Samayacharika. The 
orrihya Sutras describe the ceremonies to be performed by 
the married householder, chiefly for the benefit of his 
family. The Samayacharika rules were those to be ob- 
served by the rising generation, and which should regulate 
the various relations of every-day life. It is chiefly in the 
Samayacharika, or, as they are sometimes called, Dliarma 
Sutras, that we have to look for the originals of the later 
metrical law books, such as Manu, Ydjnavalkya, Pardsara, 
and the rest. 

Grihya probably meant originally "the house," or "the 
family hearth," from griha, "a house" (which, however, 
some Hindu commentators say means also "a wife") ; and 
it was in opposition to the great sacrifices, for which several 
hearths were required (and therefore called Vaitdnika), 
that the domestic ceremonies were called Grihya, as per- 
formed hj means of the one domestic fire. 

The Sdmaydcharika Sutras are interesting on accoimt of 
the light which they throw on the every-day life of early 
Brahmans. 

G. Jyotisha, or Astronomy. — This was the sixth and last 
of the Vedangas. Its literature is very scanty, and the 
small treatise, usually quoted as " the Jyotisha," belongs 
to the same class of works as the Sikshd. Colebrooke 
speaks of different Jyotishas for each Yeda, and he calls 
one, which has a commentary, the Jyotisha of the Eig- 
veda. Among his MSS., however (at the East India 



THE JYOTISHA. THE PAEIS'ISHTAS. 5g 

House), there is but one work of this kind. This tract is 
later than the Sutra period, and we possess as yet no work 
on ancient astronomy composed in the style of the early 
Sutras. The doctrines it propounds represent the earliest 
stage of Hindu astronomy. Its object, however, is not to 
teach that science, but merely to convey such knowledge 
of the heavenly bodies as was necessary for fixing the days 
and hours of the Yedic sacrifices. It was the establish- 
ment of a sacred calendar which, in India, as elsewhere, 
gave the first impulse to astronomical studies. 

" The fact," as Max Midler observes, " that the name 
of the moon is the same in Sanskrit, Greek, and German, 
and that it is derived from a root which originally means 
"to measure," shows that even before the separation of 
the Indo-European family, the moon had been looked 
upon as the chief means of measuring time. And the closi 
connexion between the names of moon and month pi 
that a certain knowledge of lunar chronology existed 
during the same early period." In the Rig-veda allusion 
is even made to a thirteenth or intercalary month. 

5.— The Pauis'ishtas. 

This is a class of works intimately connected with the 
Sutra period, although evidently of a somewhat later date 
than the Sutras, and, as the very name [ implies, of S( •<•« >n<larv 
importance. They have, however, a character of their 
own, and they represent a distinct period of Hindu litera- 
ture, which, though it shows clear traces of intellectual 

"*rPCf^'5> " B supplement," trapa\cnr6fji(va. 



56 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

and literary degeneracy, is not to be altogether overlooked 
in a work like this. 

Some of the Parisishtas profess to be composed by 
authors whose names, doubtless, belong to the Stitra 
period. Thus, Saunaka is said to have been the author of 
the Ckaranavy aha, Katyayana of the Chhandoga-parisishta, 
and Kusika, known as the writer of the Atharvana Sutras, 
is the reputed author of the Atharvana-parisishtas also. 
The style of these compositions is less concise than that of 
the Sutras, resembling more that of the Barhaddaivata 
and Rig-vidhana, works originally composed by Saunaka, 
but handed down to us apparently in a more modern form. 
They do not, however, exhibit that monotonous uniformity 
which we find in the Dharma Sastra of Manu, or in the 
later Puranas. The simple Anushtubh Sloka preponderates 
in them, and the metre is more regular than that of the 
Anushtubh compositions of Saunaka, the genuineness of 
which is less doubtful. The Parisishtas, therefore, seem 
to belong to the Yedic age, but may be considered as the 
very last outskirts of Yedic literature. There is a collec- 
tion of Parisishtas for each Yeda, eighteen being attributed 
to the Yajur-Yeda, and seventy-four to the Atharvana. 
The Pig- and Sama-Yedas seem not to have had so many, 
but their number is uncertain. They are said to have been 
written in the form of dialogues, in a style similar to that 
of the Puranas. It is remarkable that Panini seems not to 
have known the Parisishtas even by name. 



PAET II. 
PHILOSOPHICAL LITERATURE. 



CHAPTER I. 

ON THE SIX DARSANAS IjS" GENERAL, AND THE 
NYXYA. AM) YAIS'ESHIKA IN PARTICULAR 1 

§ 1. The Schools Enumerated and Analysed. 

The Hindus have six schools or systems of Philosophy 
(^r«r), viz., the Nydya, Vaiseshika, Sdnkhya, Yoga, Ve- 
ddnta, and Mimdnsd Darsana. 2 

The Yaiseshika being in some sort supplementary to 
the Nyaya, the two are familiarly spoken of as one col- 
lective system under the name of Nydya ; and as the case is 

1 The authorities chiefly quoted from, in this and two subsequent chapti rs, 
are "Ward on the Hindoos," and Dr. Ballantyne's prize essay "Christianity 
contrasted with Hindu Philosophy." 

2 It is the professed design of all the schools of Indian Philosophy to 

the method by which eternal beatitude (the supreme good) may be attained, 
either after death or before it. The path by which the soul is to arrive ai 
this supreme felicity is science, or knowledge. The discovery, and the Betting 
forth of the means by which this knowledge may be obtained, is the objecl of 
the various treatises and commentaries which Hindu Philosophy has produced. 
M. Cousin (in his " Cours de l'Histoire de la Philosophic " ) endeavours to 
trace among the Hindu Philosophers, the Sensualism, the [dealism, the 
Scepticism, the Fatalism, and the Mysticism of the ancient Grecian am; i 
European Schools. 



58 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

somewhat similar with the two other pairs, it is customary 
to speak of Hindu Philosophy as being divisible into the 
Nydya, the Sdnkhya, and the Veddnta Schools. These 
three systems, if we follow the commentators, differ more 
in appearance than in reality, and hence they are, each in 
its degree, viewed with a certain amount of favour by 
orthodox Hindus. Their common bond of union is their 
implicit acceptance of the Vedas — as among Christians 
the Bible — which, however, they explain differently. In 
this respect, and on this ground, they unite in opposing 
Buddhism, which denies the authority of the Yedas. 

These three systems differ from one another in the 
several points of view from which they regard the universe, 
— or things in general, — as standing in relation severally 
to sensation, emotion, and intellection. 

" The Naiyayika, founding on the fact that we have 
various sensations, enquires what, and how many, are the 
channels through which such varied knowledge flows in ? 
Finding that there are five very different channels, he 
imagines five different externals adapted to these. Hence, 
his theory of the five elements — the aggregate of what 
the Nyaya regards as the causes of affliction. 

" The Sdnkhya, struck with the fact that we have 
emotions — with an eye to the question whence our impres- 
sions come — enquires their quality. Are they pleasing, 
displeasing, or indifferent ? These three qualities constitute, 
for him, the external ; and to their aggregate he gives the 
name of Nature (TTlffTf). 

" With the Naiyayika he agrees in wishing that we 
were well rid of all three, holding that things pleasing, 



THE NYA'YA. GAUTAMA. .,.1 

and things indifferent, are not less incompatible with 
man's chief end than things positively displeasing. 

" Thus, while the Nydya .allows to the external a sub- 
stantial existence, the Sankhya admits its existence only 
as an aggregate of qualities. While both allow that it 
really (eternally and necessarily) exists. 

" The Veddntin, rising above the question as to what is 
pleasing, displeasing, or indifferent, asks simply what is 
and what is not. The categories are here reduced to two 
— the Real and the Unreal. The categories of the Ny&ya 
and the Sankhya were merely scaffolding for reaching this 
pinnacle of Philosophy. The implied foundation was in 
all respects the same, viz., the Veda." 1 

Thus the Ny&ya is conveniently introductory to the 
Sankhya, and the Sankhya to the Vedanta. And it is in 
this order that in Hindu schools, where all three are taught, 
the learner usually takes them up. The Nyaya is the 
exoteric doctrine, the Sankhya a step nearer what is held 
as truth, and the Yedanta the esoteric doctrine, or the 
naked truth. 

§ 2. As to the Founder of the Nydya School. 

The Nyaya system was originally concocted by Gau- 
tama, of whose personal history, however, but very lit th- 
is known. From the Ramiiyana and the Pur&nas we I eun 
that he was born at Himalaya, about the same time as 
Rama, i.e., at the commencement of the Tretd \ \x% 
second age of the world); that he married Ahalya, the 

1 Ballantyne'e Essay. 



60 IIANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

daughter of Brahma, and afterwards cursed her on account 
of criminal intercourse with Indra, the king of the gods. 
He is said to have lived as a very austere ascetic, first at 
Pryaga (now Allahabad), then in a forest at Mithila 
(Muttra), and latterly (after the repudiation of his wife) 
in the Himalayan mountains. His son, Satananda, was 
priest to Janaka, King of Mithila, the father of Sita, the 
wife of Rama. From the above statements we may see how 
little reliance can be placed on the historical veracity of the 
Puranas. These works assure us that Gautama, though 
he lived in the second or silver age, married a daughter of 
Brahma ; but they meet the anachronism by affirming 
that all the sages live through the four Yugas(the Satya, 
Treta, Dwapas, and Kali), into which the Hindus divide 
the whole course of the world's existence. 1 

§ 3. Of the Doctrines of the Nydya School. 

" The Nydya offers the sensational aspect of Hindu. 
Philosophy. In saying this, it is not meant that the 
Nyaya confines itself to sensation, excluding emotion and 
intellection ; nor that the other systems ignore the fact of 
sensation ; but that the arrangement of this system has a 
more pointed regard to the fact of the five senses than the 
others have, and treats the external more frankly as a 
solid reality. 

" The word Nyaya means 'propriety or fitness/ and the 
s} r stem undertakes to declare the proper method of arriving 
at that knowledge of the truth, the fruit of which, it 

1 Ward on the Hindus. 



THE NYAYA SYSTEM. ,;] 

promises, is the chief end of man. The name is also used, 
in a more limited application, to denominate the proper 
method of setting forth argument. This has led to the 
practice of calling the Nyaya the ' Hindu Logic,' a name 
which suggests a very inadequate conception of the scope 
of the system. The Nyaya system was delivered by 
Gautama in a set of ajmorisms, so very concise, that they 
must, from the first, have been accompanied by a com- 
mentary, oral or written. The aphorisms of the several 
Hindu systems, in fact, appear designed, not so much to 
communicate the doctrine of the particular schools, as to aid, 
by the briefest possible suggestions, the memory of him 
to whom the doctrine shall have been already communi- 
cated. To this end they are in general admirably adapted. 
The sixty aphorisms, for example, which constitute the 
first of Gautama's Five Lectures, present a methodical sum- 
mary of the whole system, while the first aphorism, again, 
of the sixty, presents a summary of these sixty. The first 
aphorism is as follows: — From knowledge of the truth 
in regard to evidence, the ascertainable, doubt, motive, 
example, dogma, confutation, ascertainment, disquisition, 
controversy, cavil, fallacy, perversion, futility, and occasion 
for rebuke, — there is the attainment of the Summwn 
Bonum. 

"In the next aphorism, it is declared how knowledge 
operates mediately in producing this result. ' Pain, birth, 
activity, fault, false notions, — since, on the successive 
departure of these in turn, there is the departure of tin- 
antecedent one, there is Beatitude.' Thai i- to Bay, when 
knowledge of the truth is attained to, 'fake notions ' depart ; 



HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

on their departure, the 'fault' of concerning one's-self 
aboul any external object ceases ; thereupon the enlightened 
ceases to ' act ;' then, there being no actions that call 
tor either reward or punishment, there is no occasion, after 
lii- death, for his being bom again to receive reward or 
punishment ; then, not being born again, so as to be liable 
to pain, there is no room for 'pain' and the absence oi 
pain is the Nyaya conception of the Summum Bonnm" 

Ajb fco ilio instruments adapted to the acquisition of a 

knowledge of the truth, Gautama teaches that " proofs " 

iTT^RTTTTTf^, i.e., instruments of right knowledge), "are the 

senses, the recognition of signs, the recognition of like- 

3, and speech (or testimony.)" 

The objects in regard to which we have to obtain right 
knowledge, by means of the appropriate instruments, he 
enumerates as follows: — "Soul, body, sense, sense-object, 
knowledge, the mind, activity, fault, transmigration, fruit, 
pain, and beatitude, — these arc the objects regarding 
which we are to seek for right knowledge." Here it 
is to be carefully observed that the soul is spoken of 
a- an entirely different entity from the mind. 1 Dugald 
ii tells US that the mind ean attend to only one 
thought at a time. Gautama, recognising the same fact, 
but speaking of the known invariably as the soul, accounts 
far the Tact in question by assuming that there is an 

' in the Hindi'! system, the soul (-audf^O is the self, and the mind 

(JT^HT ) ii the oi MJiy. which, standing between the self and the 

aeliverances of the senses— (as s minister between the monarch and the 

l simnltani m* on bis attention)— prevents the latter from 

crowding in confusedly, bj presenting one thing al a time. 



THE NYAYA SYSTEM. 63 

instrument, or internal organ, termed the mind, through 
which alone knowledge can reach the soul, and which, 
admitting only one thought at a time, the Naiyayika in- 
ferred must be no larger than an atom. 

"Pleasure, pain, desire, aversion, volition, and know- 
ledge, 5 ' says Gautama, " are that whereby we recognise 
soul (dtman) ; " and, again, " the sign " (whereby we infer 
the existence) " of the mind " (manas) " is the not arising 
of cognitions " (in the soul) "simultaneously." Thus the 
soul may be practically regarded as corresponding to the 
thinking principle, and the mind (manas) to the faculty of 
attending to one, and only one, thing at a time ; it being 
further to be kept in remembrance that the Naiyayika 
reckons the mind to be a substance and not a faculty. x 

"In the list of the objects regarding which right know- 
ledge is to be obtained, the next, after mind, is activity 
(m^Iti). This is defined as 'that which originates the 
[utterance of the] voice, the [cognitions of the] under- 
standing, and the [gestures of the] body.' This activity, 
we have seen under Aph. II., Gautama regards with an 
evil eye, as the cause of birth, which is the cause of pain, 
which it is the summum bonum to get permanently rid of. 

" He further holds that it is through our own 'fault ' 
(cffaT) that we are active ; and he tells us that faults (or 

1 The "Substances" (j^lfiU dravydni), according to the " Tarha- 
Sariffraha," are just nine, viz. " Earth " ("Crf^M prithwi) ; " water," ("^T^ 
ap); "light" (ifa^ tcjas) ; "air" (^T^J vdyu) ', "ether" (^cRT^T 
dkdsa)', "time" ( cJH*T Jcdla) ; "place" (f^ll disa) ; "soul" (^UgH«1 
dtman) ; and "mind" (n*\f{ manas). 



61 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

failings) have this characteristic, that they cause ' activity.' 
These faults are classed under the heads of affection (TR)> 
aversion (^), and stolidity or delusion (*fftf), each of 
which he regards as a fault or defect, inasmuch as it leads 
to actions, the recompense of which, whether good or evil, 
must be received in some birth, or state of mundane ex- 
istence, to the postponement of the great end of entire 
emancipation." 

The immediate obstacle to " emancipation " (*?Wt 
moksha, or ^R^l, apacarga), namely, " transmigration " 
(iTcSJW^) pretyabhava, he next defines as " the arising again" 1 
(TpT^rf^T) punarutpatti. "Pain " (^^) duhkha, he de- 
fines as " that which is characterised by uneasiness," and 
absolute deliverance therefrom is (?mqi\) " emancipation." 
This summum bonum is to be obtained by an abnegation of 
all action, good or bad. 

§ 4. Of the Vaiseshika and its Author? 

The founder of this school was Kanada, a sage who is 
supposed to have lived at about the same period with 
Gautama. He is said to have resided, as a most austere 
ascetic, on Mount Nila, sustaining himself merely by almost 
invisible particles of grain. When his severe devotions had 
drawn down Vishnu from Heaven to ask him to solicit 
some special blessing, he informed the god (so says the 



1 The term "Pretyabhava" ("transmigration") is derived from (TT(€I 

pretya) "having died," and (V^m bhdva) "the becoming (born into the 
world again.)" 

2 Chiefly from Ward. 



KANADA. THE VAIS'ESHIKA. 65 

Padma Purdna) tliat lie had only one favour to ask, viz., 
that he might have eyes in his feet, that he might not 
stumble on the road, but that, even in his pilgrimages, 
with his eyes closed, he might continue to meditate on 
Vishnu. According to the Big- Veda, he was a tall man, 
with a grey beard, his hair tied round his head like a 
turban, and his whole body withered with age and re- 
ligious austerities. 

Yery little is known authentically about him personally, 
but the following is a brief summary of his doctrines : — 

§ 5. Outline of the System. 

Kanada taught that the visible form of God was light ; 
that when the desire of creation arose in the divine mind, 
he first gave existence to water, and then to innumerable 
worlds, floating on the waters like the Mundane egg ; that 
in these primaeval eggs water was contained, on which lay 
Vishnu, and from whose navel issued a lotus, in which 
Brahma was born ; that Brahma, receiving instructions 
from God, created the world, first from his mind, and then 
with the primary atoms ; that spirit and animal life were 
separate substances. 

§ 6. The Vaiseshika- Sutras* 

To him are attributed the Vaiseshika- Sutras, which 
contain about 550 aphorisms, or sentences. These relate 
to seven subjects (padarthas), under the following distinct 
heads, viz. — 1. Things; 2. Qualities; 3. Actions; 4. Genus; 

5 



66 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

5. Species; 6. The inseparable Connection of Constituent 
Parts; and 7. Non-entity. 

After a long discussion of the different subjects included 
in this arrangement, Kamida discourses on religion, riches, 
happiness, and final liberation. Having first explained 
the nature of religion, he then arranges the component 
parts of the universe, and, lastly, gives a discourse on the 
divine nature, which he divides into three heads : (1) that 
God is essentially possessed of wisdom (which, however, 
does not comprise the whole of his nature or character) ; 

(2) that He is the ever blessed and supremely happy; and 

(3) that in all His works and His will He is irresistible 
and omnipotent. Emancipation from matter he held to 
be inseparably connected with complete deliverance from 
sorrow, and the enjoyment of final bliss. 

eral commentaries have been written, and are extant 
on the Sutras of Kanada, of which the principal are a large 
one called the Bhdshya, and a smaller one entitled the 
VaiSeshika Sutra-pushkara; but the only work now read 
in Bengal which has any •relation to the Yaiseshika 
Philosophy is that of Visva Natha Siddhanta, which 
merely treats of the logical terms of this s} T stem, and of 
the Ny&ya school. In the Nyaya Colleges of Bengal the 
.students road that part of this work which relates to the 
Yaiseshika system, and then proceed to study the Nyaya 
in itself. 

| 7. Extracts from the Sidra-Puslikara. 

The following account of the system is taken from the 
Sutra-Pushkara commentary : — fi On a certain occasion, 



THE VAIS'ESHIKA SYSTEM. 67 

some of the disciples of Kanada waited on the sage and 
enquired of him how they might obtain a knowledge of 
spirit. The sage resolved that he should first, in reply, 
give some instructions on religion, and then on those 
subjects or things connected with the practice of religion." 

Kanada defines religion thus — " Those ceremonies by 
the practice of which Brahma-jndna (or the knowledge of 
the divine nature) is obtained, and that by which all evil 
is for ever removed, we call religion. " 

"Without a firm belief, the duties of religion can never 
be practised ; and this belief must have something better 
than human testimony to rest on ; and, therefore, for the 
establishment of religion in the earth, Grod has given the 
holy writings, and as these have a divine origin, the faith 
of men may properly rest on their testimony. For the 
Deity himself has no need of these writings, — they were 
designed for man, and it therefore becomes him to receive, 
with thankfulness, so important a gift. 

But, in order to the practice of this religion, instruments 
are wanting, and this leads to the discussion of things 
(5^1 dravija), under which head are comprised precisely 
nine divisions, viz., earth, water, light, air, space, time, the 
points of the compass, spirit, and mind. 

The sage next brings forward qualities (^pn guna) as 
being inherent in things, and made known by them, and 
these he makes to amount to twenty-four. 

Out of "things" and "qualities" arise actions (^W 
karmma), and by the union of things and qualities, actions 
become known, and, accordingly, these are next disci 

By the knowledge of the excellent fruits of good ad 



68 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

(as those are connected with sacrifices, ablutions, gifts, 
etc.), when performed with a fixed and ardent mind, men 
are drawn to practise the duties of religion ; and by a 
knowledge of the future evil consequences of certain 
actions (such as visiting forbidden places, committing 
injuries, eating forbidden fruit, etc.), men are deterred 
from those actions. 

To things, qualities, and actions belong existence and 
instability. Cause and effect are then discussed, and proofs 
adduced of the existence of God, and of spirit in man 
distinct from the corporeal frame. An objector is adduced 
as urging that the body is a collection of atoms which 
contain a living principle, and that this living principle is 
not something separate from the body, but inherent in 
atoms, and therefore diffused through the whole body. 

To this Kanada replies, — " By this argument you deny 
the existence of inanimate matter, for, if atoms be animate, 
and this be an atom-formed world, then all matter must 
be life ; for this is a settled maxim, that the nature of the 
cause is always seen in the effect. Why, then, do we not 
see matter possessed of life P" The objector says, — "The 
animating principle is there, but it remains in a concealed 
and Intent state." Kanada says, — "This proposition can 
never be established, since all mankind allow this distinc- 
tion, that motion is an essential property of that which is 
animated; but in senseless matter motion is not found. " 
The opponent refuses to admit the testimony of the multi- 
tude, that is, of "all mankind," who, he says, "are not 
capable of comprehending subtile essences." Kanada 
replies, — "If you refuse assent to universal opinion, the 



THE VAIS'ESHIKA SYSTEM. 69 

common proverb must be false that ' a bare has no borns, 
for it may bave borns in a latent or concealed state." 

Kanada next attempts to prove, from tbe existence of 
anxiety arising from desire and aversion, tbe existence of 
a spirit separate from body or matter, since tbese emotions 
are excited by a perception of tbe good or evil arising 
from certain tbings, so tbat good is sought and evil is 
avoided. But this perception of the good and bad results 
of different actions, and tbe anxiety occasioned by this 
perception, to embrace that which produces good and avoid 
that which produces evil, are attributes of spirit. And as 
we find these perceptions and this anxiety existing in our- 
selves, we infer that they must exist in others, since they 
possess with us a common nature, and from thence we 
ascend up to a First Cause distinct from Matter. 

The mode of matter and Spirit becoming united is next 
discussed. " When an animal soul, through having the 
consequences of good and evil actions attached to it, is 
about to assume human birth, it is united to a single atom, 
and to this others are added, till a regular body is formed. 
In cases where merit preponderates, an excellent body is 
constructed, and where demerit abounds an inferior body." 

Atoms are globular, and they exist in a most subtile 
state. Their union, retaining their independence, is very 
wonderful.. Their extension, as the consequence of union, 
is to be attributed to the effects of merit and demerit. 
Their bulk arises from accessions of atoms. One atom is 
invisible, and so are two ; but when a third is added, the 
substance formed resembles a mote in the sun. In this 
congregated and dependent state, atoms are not eternal. 



70 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

Atoms are uncreated, and are of four kinds, from which, 
arise earth, water, light, and air. These remain "distinct" l 
till substances become visible. When the animal soul is 
to be united to a body, the atom to which it is to be united 
begins to be agitated, 2 till at length it becomes unfixed 
and separated from its former union, and then unites itself 
to the soul. 

Objects too minute to be visible, are placed under the 
class of atoms, and everything diffused is called ma hat 
(Tfc^°) i.e., " great." Atoms and thought belong to the 
former, and the division of the points, time, space, and 
spirit are all denominated mahat. He who is possessed of 
the qualities belonging to mahat enjoys an affectionate 
relation to all things. 

Some Hindu philosophers plead for the existence of 
innumerable minds in one individual. Others endeavour 
to establish the doctrine of five minds to agree with the 
senses. Kanada contends for one reasoning faculty in 
each individual. The multitude of forms assumed by this 
mind, says the sage, arises from its union with visible 
objects. Fire is one, but it assumes various colours from 
its connection with the varied properties of the com- 
bustibles which it consumes. 

In the production of thought, the senses are the inferior 

' fcf^m (\'i*t ska). This opinion as to the distinctness of the different 
kinds of atoms gave rise to the name of the sect, Vaiseshika. 

2 The agitation in this case is attributed to the divine Viseshasaktj 
(t^M^TSjfrR) /.<., the separate (special, distinct) energy of God, as opposed 
mmon (or ordinarirj exercised) energy. 
Prom *T?? " to increase." 



THE VAIS'ESHIKA SYSTEM. 71 

helpers to spirit in the acquisition of knowledge ; but 
mind is the chief helper. It is a single power, but is 
possessed of five faculties corresponding with the senses, 
by which its capacities are multiplied; but the opinion 
that each sense has a distinct power, called mind, is a 
mistake. When the mind retires to the tubular vessel 
called medhya (W%) sleep ensues. When it retires into 
a particular part of this vessel called puritati (jp^tfRft) 
profound sleep follows. 

As to the body, Kanada teaches (in opposition to various 
other theories which he combats) that it is composed of 
but one element, earth, and that water, air, light, and 
vacuum are mere adjuncts. To confirm this idea, he 
adds thfct scent is evidently the prevailing and only abiding 
quality of bodies. The other properties form, taste, sound, 
and touch, are subject to decay ; but scent never leaves 
either a living or a dead body. Bodies are formed in the 
womb, in eggs, from seeds, and are raised by fermentation. 

Desire Is exacted by the hope of pleasure, and aversion 
by the fear of misfortune. They are ascribed to the in- 
fluences oi the actions of a former birth upon the present 
birth, for a child knows nothing of unchaste desires ; he 
does not leirn them of others ; still, at a certain age, they 
rise in his :nind. From whence, then, can they come, but 
from the baneful influences of the actions of former births. 

Kanada then decides a number of points respecting 
religious drties. In the pursuit of secular concerns, a 
person is rot to expect the benefits peculiar to a future 
state. Noi in the duties connected with the invisible 
world are /isible fruits to be sought. Invisible benefits 



72 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

refer to the pleasures of heaven, and absorption in Brahma. 
The duties that procure invisible benefits are such as 
bathing at holy places, fasting on holy days, the abstinence 
from sexual intercourse, the study of the Veda in the 
house of a divine teacher ; after having given birth to a 
son, and passed the age of 50, becoming a hermit and 
practising asceticism in a forest ; offering appointed sacri- 
fices, etc. Actions are religious or otherwise, according to 
the motives which inspire the performers. 

Liberation (*ft^T moksha) is to be obtained by listening 
to the description of spirit contained in the Sdstrd, by 
meditation, by the acquisition of the knowledge of yoga 
(asceticism), by perfect fixedness of mind and correct 
posture during the performance of yoga, by restraining 
the breath, by retaining in subjection the powers of the 
body and mind, and by the vision of spirit in the animal 
soul. Hence, future birth is wholly prevented, and all 
sorrow annihilated ; and this is what is called liberation. 



73 



CHAPTEE II. 

OF THE SA'KKHYA AND YOGA SCHOOLS. 
I. — The Sankhya System. 
• $ I. Of its Author. 

The originator of this system was Kapila. He was a 
grandson of the renowned Sage Manu (through his mother 
Deva Huti), his father, Karmada, being reputed as one of 
the progenitors of mankind. He was born at Pushkdra, 
and lived at Ganga Sdgar, where he became greatly re- 
nowned as a sage and ascetic, being said to know all 
things, past, present, and to come, and to be able to 
accomplish whatever he wished. In the Bhagavat-Gita 
he is spoken of as an incarnation of the Grod Vishnu, for 
the express purpose of teaching the doctrines of the 
Sankhya School as the means of enabling mankind to 
attain to eternal happiness in the future world. 

Several works are attributed to him, including the 
" Kapila Sanghita," the " Sankhya Sutras," the " Sankhya 
Puranas," etc. 

§ 2. Outline of the Sankhya System. 1 

The Sankhya makes a step in advance of the Nyaya by 
reducing the external from the category of substance to 
1 From Ballantyne's Essay. 



74 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

that of quality. Souls alone are, in the Sankhya, regarded 
as substances; whatever affects the soul being arranged 
under the head of a quality — 1. pleasing ; 2. displeasing ; 
or 3. indifferent. This mode of viewing the universe may 
be designated the emotional view of things. 

The word Sankhya means " numeral, rational, or dis- 
criminative." The system promises beatitude as the 
reward of that discrimination which rightly distinguishes 
between soul and nature. The meaning to be attached to 
these two words will be explained presently. 

The Sankhya System was delivered by Kapila in a set of 
aphorisms no less concise than those of the Nydya. He 
begins by defining the chief end of Man. His first aphor- 
ism is as follows : — " Now the complete cessation of pain, 
of three kinds, is the complete (or highest) end of man." 
By the three kinds of pain are meant — 1. diseases, 
griefs, etc., which are intrinsic or inherent in the sufferer ; 
2. injuries from ordinary external things ; and 3. injuries 
from things supernatural or meteorological. In his 
nineteenth aphorism, he declares that the bondage (^T 
bandha) under which the soul, or individual man (*J^f 
purusha), groans is due to its conjunction with nature 
wafa prakriti) ; and this bondage is merely seeming, be- 
cause soul is " ever essentially a pure and free intelligence." 

Tn his fifty-ninth aphorism, he says again of the soul's 
bondage — " It is merely verbal, and not a reality, since 
it resides in [the soid's organ] the mind [and not in the 
soul or self] ;" on which the Hindu commentator remarks, 
— " That is to say, since bondage, etc., resides only in the 
mind (fa"rt cJiitta), all this, as far as concerns the soul 



THE SANKHYA SYSTEM. 75 

[purusha], is merely verbal, because it is merely a reflexion, 
like the redness of a [pellucid] crystal [when a China rose 
is near it], but not a reality, with no false imputation like 
the redness of the China rose itself." 1 

Of nature, which thus, by conjunction, makes the soul 
seem to be in bondage when it is really not, he gives, in his 
sixty-second aphorism, the following account : — " Nature 
(TT^fH prakriti) is the state of equipoise of goodness (w& 
sattiva), passion (T^C rajas), and darkness (cT^H^ tames) ; 
from nature [proceeds] intellect (^FHfc^ mahat), from in- 
tellect self- consciousness (^IHfTT ahankdra), from self- 
consciousness the five subtile elements (cp3TR tanmdtra), 
and both sets [external and internal] of organs (Tf^^f 
■indriya), and from the subtile elements the gross elements 
(^Rnjff sthula-bhuta), [then, besides, there is] soul (J^^ 
purusha) ; such is the class of twenty- five." 

We may add further, that, in aphorism 105, we are told 
that " experience (^ftT bhocja) [whether of pleasure or pain, 
liberation from both of which is desiderated] , ends with [the 
discrimination of] thought [i.e., soul as contra- distinguished 
from nature];" that a plurality' of souls is asserted (in 
opposition to the Veddnta) in another aphorism (150), 
viz., " From the diverse allotment of birth, etc., the 
plurality of souls [is to be inferred];" and, finally, that 
the Sdnkhya system explicitly repudiates the charge of 
annihilation, aphorism 47 declaring that, " In neither way 

1 This paradoxical conception of the soul in "bondage, whilst not really so, 
may he illustrated hy the case of Don Quixote hanging in the dark from the 
ledge of a supposed enormous precipice, and hound to hold on for his life till 
day-break, from not knowing that his toes were really within six inches of the 
ground. 



76 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

[whether as a means or as an end] is this [viz., annihila- 
tion,] the soul's aim." 

II. — The Yoga (or Patanjali) System. 

§3. Of its Author. 

The sage Patanjali founded this school of philosophy. 
Little is known of his personal history. He is said to 
have been born in Ilavrita-Varsha, where his father (An- 
giro) and mother (Sati) resided; and after his marriage 
with Lolupd, whom he found on the north of Mount 
Sumeru, in the hollow of a rata (or Indian fig) tree, he is 
said to have lived as a mendicant devotee to a great age. 
Being insulted on one occasion by the inhabitants of Bhoga- 
bhdnddra, while engaged in his religious austerities, he is 
said to have reduced them to ashes by fire from his mouth. 

§ 4. Brief Summary of his Doctrines. 

He taught that the Divine Spirit and the soul of man 
are distinct : that the former is free from passion, but not 
the latter : that God is possessed of form [dfozr], and 
capable of being seen by the true Yogi (i.e., practiser of 
the Yoga rites and duties) : that He is placable, glorious, 
the creator, the preserver, and the regenerator of all 
things: that the universe first arose from His will or 
command, and that He infused into the system a power 
of perpetual progression : that the truth of things was 
discoverable by the senses, by experience, comparison, and 
revelation : that some material things are unchanged and 
others changeable, and that the latter pass through six 



PATANJALI'. THE YOGA. 77 

changes, as birth, increase, etc. : that everything origi- 
nates in the five elements, fire, water, etc. : that knowledge 
is of five sorts, certain, uncertain, etc. : that there are five 
kinds of men, viz., those who are governed by their 
passions, the wrathful, the benevolent, the pious, and those 
who are freed from worldly attachments : and, finally, 
that " emancipation " is to be obtained by the practise of 
Yoga, or perfect abstraction of mind. 

Many of the doctrines of Pythagoras seem to bear a 
considerable resemblance with those of Patanjali. 

The Sutras, entitled the Pdtanjala Darsana, comprise 
198 lines. The sage Veda Vydsa wrote a comment on 
this work, on which Vdchaspdti-Mishra has given an ex- 
planatory treatise. A commentary on Pdnini's Grammar, 
and a medical work called Bdja-Mriganka are also at- 
tributed to Patanjali. 

§ 5. Fuller Account of the System. 

Bhoja-JDeva, King of Dharu, wrote a comment on the 
original Pdtanjala Darsana, from a translation of which 
we make the following extracts : — 

The restraining of the mind, and confining it to internal 
meditations, is called Yoga. When the mind is thus 
confined within, it becomes assimilated to the Being whom 
it seeks to know ; but when the mind is secularised, this 
Being takes the form of secularity (f%^3). In the first 
case, the mind is singly and irrevocably fixed on God ; in 
the second, it is restless, injurious, and voluptuous. In 
the former state, there is no sorrow ; in the latter, there 
are five k^nds of sorrow, arising, severalty, from the labour 



78 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

of seeking proofs of the reality of things, from error, from 
the pursuit of shadows, from heavy sleep, and from recollection. 

The three evils, restlessness, injuriousness, and volup- 
tuousness, may be prevented by fixing God in the mind, 
and by destroying desire. 

This restraining and freeing the mind is called Yoga, of 
which there are two kinds, sampragndta and asampragndta. 1 

Sampr agitata is meditation on an object till the ideas 
connected with it are imprinted on the mind, and occupy 
all its powers. The proper objects of meditation are two — 
Matter and Spirit. (1). Matter assumes twenty- four forms 
(or is divided into twenty-four parts), viz., crude matter, 
the understanding, consciousness of personal identity, the 
qualities of the five primary elements, the eleven organs 
of sense, and the five primary elements. In these, either 
as the attribute or subject, are included quality, action, 
and kind (guna, karma, vishesha). (2). Spirit is one 
{purusha, i.e., the masculine power.) 

Sampragndta is of four kinds, — 1. Meditation on the 
distinction between sound and substance until the Yogi 
arrives at the conviction of the non-distinction between 
these two in reference to the Deity as a visible being. 
2. Meditation on the Supreme Being in reference to form, 
as well as to time and place, till the Yogi is able to fix his 
meditations, without regard to form, time, or place. 3. 
Meditation on the Deity till the mind, in which sattica guna 
prevails, is filled with joy, and till the powers of the 
understanding become abstracted, so that the distinction 

' The first \\<>nl Intimates that the Togihas obtained the knowledge of the 
Deity ; and the second, that the Yogi is lost in the divine manifestation. 



THE YOGA SYSTEM. 79 

between matter and spirit is no longer recognised, and 
spirit alone is seen. 1 4. Meditation till the Yogi becomes 
so far delivered from pride, that it exists only as a shadow 
in his mind, and the divine principle receives the strongest 
manifestation. This last state is called kaivalya, i.e., absorp- 
tion in (or though the person is not separated from) matter. 

At length the Yogi attains what is called asampragndta, 
in which, if he be perfect in his abstraction, the very 
shadow of separate existence will be destroyed, visible 
objects will be completely extinguished, and spirit alone 
become manifest. 

He who has attained the states called videha and kaivalya, 
after transmigration, finds himself in the same state of 
advancement towards abstraction, as when he quitted his 
former body. Those who die, without having attained to 
the state of videha, must, entering a new body, labour 
after a prepared mind, resolution, remembrance, and dis- 
crimination, which acquisitions (naturally succeeding and 
assisting one another) will be followed by the meditation 
called Yoga (^ftr), for which they have all been preparatory. 

There are three kinds of Yogas, distinguished by the 
rapidity or slowness of their progress towards perfection, 
which is affected by the actions of preceding and present 
births. 

Yoga and its blessedness are to be secured by the re- 
linquishment of all hope of happiness 2 in secular things, 

1 In this state, the Yogi is said to he videha (fq<^) (i.e., incorporeal), 
that is, he is emancipated from that pride of separate existence which is con- 
nected with a secular or bodily state. 

8 See Hitopades'a, hook i., line 666, Johnson's edition, 1847. 



80 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

and by that meditation which identifies every religious 
formula, every sacred utensil, and every offering, with the 
object of worship. This object is the Supreme Being, 
called l'kcara ( v^ \), 1 represented as being free from the 
fruit of works, i.e., exempt from birth among any of the 
forms of matter, from increase or decrease of Jife, and from 
enjoyment or suffering as the consequence of actions. 
To his will all creatures owe their preservation. He is 
omnipotent, eternal, the omniscient fountain of knowledge, 
who presides over all events. 

This Being the Yogi must intensely and continuously 
meditate on, while repeating constantly his sacred name. 
Thus he gradually loses his worldly attachment ; the 
sattwa gmia (or virtue of goodness) obtains a clearer mani- 
festation in him, and he is brought to resemble God, and 
thus he obtains also deliverance from the effects of birth 
(viz., sickness, incapacity, proneness to error, fickleness, 
etc.), and final emancipation. 

In the next place, the Yogi must (for the fixing of his 
mind) attend to prdnaydma, that is, to the gradual sup- 
pression of breathing, since the animal soul and the mind 
ad in conjunction. In this work he must first endeavour 
to fix the understanding by some act of the senses, e.g., he 
in usl place his sight and thoughts on the tip of his nose, 
by which he will perceive smell; then bring his mind to 
the tip of his tongue, when taste will be realised; and 
afterwards ii\ his thoughts on the root of his tongue, by 
which sound will be suggested. After this, if the mind 

1 From i^I " to rule." 



DUTIES OF THE YOGI. 81 

be full of the sattwa gunct, and free from every degree of 
the raja and tama gunas, it will escape the waves of 
passion and become truly fixed. Freedom from secular 
desires will be followed by freedom from sorrow, and the 
mind will in consequence become fixed. His mind will be 
fixed whose intercourse with secular objects is like that of 
a person in a deep sleep, who, without the active union of 
the senses, partakes of perfect happiness. He who medi- 
tates on God, placing his mind on the sun, moon, fire, or 
any other luminous body, or within his heart, or at the 
bottom of his throat, or in the centre of his skull, will, by 
afterwards ascending from these gross images of the Deity 
to the glorious original, secure fixedness of mind. 

The Yogi will, by these means, deliver himself from all 
error, or pr oneness to error, and be filled with the effects 
of the sattwa guna. He thus becomes identified with the 
Deity : that is, visible objects, the operations of the under- 
standing, and personal identity, become absorbed in the 
Being contemplated, in the same manner as the crystal 
receives the image of whatever is reflected upon it. 

That he may not fall from the elevation he has attained, 
the Yogi still seeks God by meditation on his names, or on 
the import of these names, or on his existence, after which 
he loses all remembrance of the names of the Deity, and 
of their import, and God is realised in the mind as pure 
light, and to this succeeds a state of mind similar to self- 
annihilation. 

Still, however, he is not wholly delivered from subtle 
illusion, though his ideas have received the impress of the 
Deity ; but, if he succeed in perfecting his abstraction, 

6 



82 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

God will shine forth in complete splendour, the mind of the 
Yogi will become completely absorbed in LTim, and he will 
acquire universal prescience. He whose abstraction con- 
tinues imperfect, obtains complete knowledge by the 
assistance of reflection, etc., and by degrees ascends to the 
unassisted knowledge of universal nature and identity with 
the spirituality and perfection of God. 

Thus ends the first chapter of the Patanjala, showing 
the method by which a person of perfect mind acquires 
Yoga. In the second chapter is pointed out the means by 
which a secular person should perform Yoga ; in which 
are included the practise of austerities, and the repetition 
of the names of God, or of incantations without the desire 
of benefit, referring all to the will of God. By this kind 
of Yoga, the person practising it will be assisted in per- 
forming the more perfect Yoga, and in victory over pain — 
or the cause of pain — which is of five kinds, viz., illusion, 
consciousness of self-existence, passion, religious disgust, and 
love of life. The four last spring from the first ; and each 
of these four includes inability as well as inefficient, weak, 
and suppressed desire. 

The last mentioned source of pain (love of life) is to be 
overcome by turning the thoughts inward, which will 
infallibly secure meditation on God. The other causes of 
pain arc to be overcome by fixing the mind on God, and 
by cultivating benevolent Peelings towards men in every 
condition of life. 

The impress 1 of actions is to be attributed to illusion 

1 All actions are said to leave a mark on tin; mind, which is never ob- 
Literated till the effects of these actions have been experienced. 



RESULT'S OF MAYA'. 83 

(*J1<M(), and is discovered either in this or in a future 
birth. Actions performed under the influence of illusion 
are followed by eight millions of births in connection with 
some caste, with an appointed period of life, and subjec- 
tion to the fruit of actions. From works of merit result 
superior caste, long life, and many enjoyments ; from evil 
actions arise degraded caste and short and miserable life. 

To secular persons (f^f^T«n), these consequences of 
illusion do not produce sorrow as they do to the Yogi. 
The former are likened to those members of the body which 
remain at ease, while the visual faculty, from some acci- 
dent, suffers excruciating pain : the Yogi is the eye of the 
body. 

This illusion, from whence arise the effects of actions, is 
to be destroyed by discriminating wisdom in reference to 
the Divine nature, leading to the reception of truth (God), 
and deliverance from the sorrows of transmigration. 

The progress of creation is thus described : first illusion, 
then the elements, then the senses, and lastly the under- 
standing. The origin of birth is the union (or vicinity) of 
spirit with the understanding, in which the former is the 
partaker, and the latter the thing enjoyed ; or, in other 
words, the one displays, and the other is the thing 
displayed. 

The union of spirit and matter, as the receiver and 
received, is without beginning. The origin of this union 
is illusion. The perfection of spirit is to be attributed to 
liberation from this union, and this is to be sought in the 
acquisition of discriminating wisdom. Illusion being re- 
moved, all the effects resulting from the union of spirit 



84 



HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 



with illusion will necessarily cease. This separation con- 
stitutes the liberation of the Yogi, who is hereafter known 
as the "everlastingly free." 

Imperfect discrimination, however, which leaves the 
mind wavering in its choice between objects and spirits, 
will not accomplish the work of liberation. Perfect dis- 
crimination is obtained by acquiring the eight parts of 
Yoga, which acquisition secures the removal of the darkness 
and ignorance arising from the raja and tama gunas, and the 
perfect subjection of the mind to the sattica guna. These 
eight parts are called yama, niydma, dsana, prdndydma, 
pratydhdra, dhdrana, dhydna, and samddhi. The first five 
serve the purpose of subduing the passions, and of thus 
assisting the Yogi. The last three are assistants to the 
Yogi, without any medium. 

In "yama" (restraint) are five divisions: (1) Freedom 
from desire of injuring others ; (2) truth, verbal and 
mental ; (3) freedom from covetousness, or the appropria- 
tion of the property of another, by thought, word, or act ; 
(4) subjection of the members for the extirpating of desire; 
and (5), the renunciation of all pleamre. He who has fully 
accomplished all these duties, is said to have performed 
the great vow (+^i3<i). 

Niydma also includes five divisions, viz. : (1) Purity of 
body (by earth, water, etc., after certain functions), and 
purity of mind, through the exercise of friendly and be- 
nevolent affections; (2) cheerfulness in every condition; 
(3) religious austeril Lea ; (4) the repetition of incantations ; 
and ( ; ">), the causing all the formularies of worship and all 
its benefits to terminate in God. 






THE EIGHT PARTS OF YOGA. 85 

Amna consists in eight3 r -four modes of sitting at Yoga. 
To be complete, the posture (however at first and naturally 
painful) must have become quite easy to the Yogi, and 
unattended with agitation. The mind must be raised to 
the wonders of the heavens, and not confined to the body ; 
and thus the Yogi will at last cease to feel the inconveni- 
ences of heat and cold, hunger and thirst, etc. 

The accomplishment of the dsana prepares for the prd- 
ndt/dma, or the suppression of the breath. The Yogi must 
begin by restraining his breath for twenty- six seconds, 
and enlarge this period till he is perfect. He should 
confine the exhalation of his breath, at the utmost, to 
twelve finger breadths from his nose. 

The JPratydhdra is the withholding the mind from 
wandering, that the organs, turned from their accustomed 
objects, inwards, may become thoroughly subject to the 
Yogi. 

The fixing of the mind, so that it may not wander 
beyond the nose, nor descend inwardly beyond the level 
of the navel, is called dhdrana, in which the Yogi purifies 
his mind by benevolence, practises all the previous duties 
(//a ma, etc.), and fixing his eyes on the tip of his nose, 
subdues all his members and all the powers of the elements 
over him. 

Dhydna (or meditation) implies that the practiser of it 
endeavours to fix his mind on the Deity, according to the 
forms of dhdrana, so as to secure a constant stream of 
thought towards him, and exclude all worldly tendencies. 

In Samddhi (the understanding), carried along by an 
uninterrupted current of thought towards the Deity, or 



86 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

towards that winch is the reflection of spirit upon the 
understanding, becomes nearly extinguished. 

Dhdrana, dhydna, and samddhi, are, for the sake of 
brevity, often distinguished by one name, sanyama, i.e., 
the restraining the mind from all visible objects. To the 
person who is able to perfect himself in Sanyama, the 
infinitely abstracted God, discovered by perfect discrimina- 
tion and identified by light, becomes manifest. It is to be 
attained by degrees, by meditation on God, first through 
more gross, and then through more refined, media. 

After the Yogi has fixed his mind on the Deity, it 
occasionally wanders ; but at length he contemplates God 
only in himself, so that the divine spirit is seen equally in 
the mind and in visible objects. The Yogi, who has 
perfected himself in the three parts of Sanyama, obtains a 
knowledge of the past and of the future ; if he apply 
Sanyama to sounds, to their meaning, and the consequent 
results, he will acquire universal knowledge. If he apply 
it to discriminate between sattica guna and spirit, he ex- 
terminates the very root of error (the cause of birth), and 
obtains liberation. 

All perfect ascetics (siddhis) attained perfection in the 
jamadhi in a preceding birth, — some were perfect at their 
birth, as was the case with Kapila. 



87 



CHAPTER III. 

OX THE VEDA'NTA AND MfMA'NSA DARSANAS, Etc. 
1. — The Vedanta System. 

§ 1. Of its Author and Origin. 

Veda- Vydsa, the founder of the Yedanta School, is said 
to have been born on an island, or rather sand-bank, of 
the river Jamna (or Yamuna), and to have received the 
name of Dwaipayana originally ; but, from having resided 
in a forest of the Yadaris, he was also called Yadarayana, 
and as the arranger of the Yedas, Yeda-Yyasa (or Yasa), 
by which title he is most commonly known. He is de- 
scribed in Hindu writings as a very tall man, of a dark 
complexion, wearing a tiger's skin, and having his hair 
tied round his head like a turban, which was said to have 
been changed to the colour of gold by the rays of the sun. 
Besides compiling and arranging the Vedas, he is held to 
have written the 18 Pur anas, the 18 Upa- Pur anas, the 
Kalpa-Purdna, the Mahd-Bhdgavata, the Devi- B hag avata, 
the Ekdmra-Purdna, the Veddnta Barsana, and the 
Mahd-Bhdrata. It is said that he obtained his know- 
ledge of the Yedas and Puranas by the favour of Yishnu, 
without study, and that he wrote the Bhdgavata from the 
instructions of Narada. 



88 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

The system of philosophy set forth in the Yeddnta- 
Darsana he is said to have derived from the discourses 
addressed by Krishna to Arjuna, recorded in the Bhagavad 
Gita, a part of the Bhishma chapter of the Mahdbhdrata. 
The Vcddnta Sutras consists of 595 verses, which are 
divided into four parts. In the first, the author maintains 
that the whole contents of the Yeda refer to the Divine 
nature ; in the second part, he confutes the opinions of 
other sects ; the third part is a discourse on devotion ; and 
in the fourth he enlarges on the doctrine of the divine 
nature. 

§ 2. Outline of the System. 

Yeda Yyasa taught that the best idea we can form of 
God is that he is light, or glory. At the same time, he 
maintained that God is a spirit, without passions, separate 
from matter : that he is pure wisdom and happiness ; one 
without a second, everlasting, incomprehensible, and un- 
ci umgeablc ; and that, after describing all modes of 
existence, he is that which is none of these. 

The Universe, he taught, was formed of the five ele- 
ments, \i/., air, lire, water, earth, and aether (or vacuum) : 
that the world, being destitute of life, was liable to dis- 
solution : that God himself was the sole possessor of life, 
and thai one divine spirit pervaded the whole animated 
creation. 

When the desire to produce creatures arose in the 
divine mind, God united himself to what is called Sakti 
(?rfW), or energy, in which reside three qualities con- 
ducing to di\ ine wisdom, lo activity, and to sensualit}^, viz., 
Salt tea (W&), Rajas 0^0, and Tamas (rW^O, which 



THE VEDANTA SYSTEM. 89 

may be translated, pure cognition, lively emotion, and in- 
ertness; or "goodness/' "passion," and "darkness." The 
first thing created was vacuum (3j«*l), from which arose 
wind (^Tfif), from windjfrtf (Wf^T), from fire water (WTft) 3 
and from water earth (^f^V). 

All these, at the first creation, were produced in an 
atomic form. Dividing each of them into four parts, the 
Creator caused the first forms of things to arise. 

Yeda Yyasa further taught that deliverance from matter, 
or return to God (re- absorption in the Divine Spirit 1 ) was 
to be obtained in the following manner : — First, the 
devotee must read through the Yedas. He must suffer 
no desire of advantage to mix with his religious services ; 
must renounce everything forbidden in the Sastras ; must 
render himself pure by the performance of daily devotions, 
duties for the good of others, atonements, and divine 
contemplation ; must acquaint himself with the unprofit- 
ableness of that which is fleeting and transitory, and the 
value of that which is unchangeable and eternal ; must 
renounce all hope of present or future rewards, gain the 
complete mastery over all his sensual organs, and medi- 
tate on God in all the forms and media by which he is 
made known to his creatures. By the power of these 
meditations and austerities, the soul will leave the body 
through the basilar suture, and ascend to the heaven of 
Agni (god of fire), from thence, in succession, to various 
other heavens till, having obtained, in the heaven of 
Yaruna an aerial body, called A'tivd/iika, the devotee will 

1 f^£cra, f*[f[% ?* ft^fir. 



90 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

then ascend to the heaven of Brahma, and after the ex- 
piration of one hundred years of Brahma and this god's 
absorption into the divine spirit, the devotee, likewise, will 
obtain the same state of felicity. 

Such, Vyasa taught, was the method of obtaining 
gradual emancipation. Immediate emancipation (?fNrT) 
was to be secured only by divine wisdom, which wisdom 
could not exist in the mind without the entire extinguish- 
ment of all consciousness of outward things, by meditation 
on the one supreme spirit, Brahma : that when this had 
been attained to, the soul would then obtain emancipation 
even in a bodily state. 1 

Thus, while the Ny&ya allows to the external world a 
substantial existence, and the Sankhya admits its existence, 
but only as an aggregate of qualities, the Vedantin, ad- 
vancing beyond both, arrives at the limit of simplification 
by deciding that nothing really exists besides one, and 
and that this one real being is absolutely simple. 

This one simple being, according to the Yedanta, is 
knowledge ("WT«T jnc'tna) — not the knowledge of anything, 
for this would imply a contradiction to the dogma that 
nothing exists except knowledge simply. Among us 
knowledge is regarded as the synthesis of subject and 
object ; but, according to the Yedanta, there is no object, 
mid hence the term subject is not strictly applicable under 
a theory which, denying duality, does not admit the con- 
ditions of a relation. 

Soul, the ono reality, is accordingly spoken of in the 
Vedanta, not as a substance (sf^j dravya) as it is reckoned 

1 Ward. 



THE VEDA XT A SYSTEM. 91 

in the Nyaya, but as the thing (^*sf vastu), or, literally, 
" that which abides." 

This sole-existence, soul, according to the Yedantin, is 
God. To the objection that the soul does not spon- 
taneously recognise itself as God, he replies that this is 
because it is " ignorant," i.e., obstructed by ignorance 
(^njT«T aj'ndna.) Were it not for this aj'ndna, he argues, 
the soul would know itself to be God — there would be 
nothing but God — there would be no world. It is this 
ajndna, then, that makes the world, and this being the 
case, it ought to have a name suggestive of the fact. 
Shall it be called Prakriii (TRTfif), or " energy," then, the 
name by which the Sankhyas speak of their unconscious 
maker of worlds ? But then this Prakriti can be nothing 
else than the All -Powerful ; for we can admit the inde- 
pendent existence of God alone ; so that the aj'ndna,' under 
discussion, may be even more accurately denoted by the 
word Sakti (^rfW), God's "power," by an exertion of 
which power alone the fact can be accounted for, that souls 
which are God do not know that they are so. The term 
Sakti is therefore enrolled among the synonymes of ajndna. 
But then comes the mytkologist, who argues, if this world 
would not even appear to be real, but for ignorance, then 
this apparent reality is "illusion" (*\\m Maya). This 
being admitted, Maya is made a goddess, and called the 
wife of Brahma, the Creator. 

The definition of " ignorance " in the Yedanta requires 
notice. Ignorance, we are informed, is " a somewhat that is 
not to be called positively either real or unreal," [not a mere 
negation, but] in the shape of an entity, the opponent of 



92 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

knowledge, consisting of the three fetters. According to 
the Naiydyikas, ajndna is merely the privation or non- 
existence (^HT^ abhdva) of jndna. To exclude such a 
meaning here, it is asserted to be " in the shape of an 
entity " (^TR"^ bhara-rupa). The description of it as 
something "not to be called positively either real or 
unreal," corresponds with Plato's bv kol firj bv, as dis- 
tinguished from 6Ww? bv. The distinction is that of the 
phenomenal and the real. The universe being held to be the 
joint result of soul and ignorance ( ^ cU I and ^TtjT«T) , and 
the soul being the onty substance, or " substratum of all," 
it follows that ignorance is equivalent to, and identical 
with, the sum total of qualities. These, as in the Sdnkhya 
system, are held to be three ; so that ignorance is spoken 
of as "consisting of the three qualities" (f^JTSTnUSR 
trigundtmaka), or, as it may also be rendered, consisting 
of the three cords [or fetters], the word for " quality " 
(^P^ f/una), meaning originally a "fetter," and these two 
senses, in Hindu philosophy, being closely related. 

Let us see what can have led to this division of quality 
into three. The one reality — the universal substratum — 
being veiled by the garh of the Phenomenal world, cer- 
tain marked distinctions of character among the phe- 
nomena present themselves. We have phenomena of pure 
cognition, of Lively emotion, and, finally, of inertness. To 
one or oilier of these three heads, every phenomenon may, 
with a little ingenuity, be referred. The three heads are 
named respectively, in Sanskrit, sattwa, rajas, and tamas 
(^r^T? T*^ <T*reO- According to the commentators, the 
firsl of the qualities, whilst endlessly subdivisible into 



THE VEDANTA SYSTEM. 93 

calmness, complacency, patience, rejoicings, etc., consists 
summarily of happiness. The second, on the other hand, 
consists summarily of pain. To these categories belong 
almost all the sensations and thoughts of thinking beings, 
scarcely any feeling, viewed strictly, being one of sheer 
indifference. This indifference, the third of the qualities, 
is exemplified in its highest potency in such things as 
stocks and stones, where the soul, the substratum of these, 
as of all else, is altogether "immersed in matter," or 
obfuscated by the quality of darkness, as the word tamas 
literally signifies. In its lower potencies, this third of the 
qualities exemplifies itself in sloth, drowsiness, etc. 

These three qualities, separately or commingled, more 
or less obscure the soul, which is held to be simple 
knowledge (jndna); and as the aggregate of them is the 
opposite of soul, or, in other words, not-sovl, therefore the 
aggregate, as we have seen, takes the name of a-jndna, 
i.e., not- knowledge, or ignorance. The soul is often spoken 
of as a light. JSTow, suppose a lamp to be enclosed in a 
lamp-shade ; the glass may be either so pure that the 
light passes through scarcely diminished ; or it may be 
stained, so that the light is tinged, or partly dimmed ; or 
the lamp-shade may be of opaque materials, so that the 
light within is altogether obstructed. These three cases 
may perhaps illustrate the supposed operation of the three 
qualities, as well as account for the names by which they 
are spoken of as " purity/' " foulness," and " darkness " 
(sattwa, rajas, and tamas.) 

"Ignorance" (qjndna), according to the Veddnta, has 
two powers : that by which it envelopes the soul, giving 



94 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

rise to tlic conceit of personality or conscious individualit} 7 , 
and that by which it projects the phantasmagoria of a 
world which the individual regards as external to himself. 
Soul thus invested is what the universe consists of. 

The supposed root of all evil — the belief that aught 
exists besides the " one " — is to be got rid of, we are told, 
by a right understanding of the great sentence, " That 
art thou" (<Tt3"), i.e., " Thou — whosoever thou art — art 
the one." When this dictum has been rightly understood 
and accepted, the accepter of it, changing the " thou" to 
the first person, reflects thus — " /am the one " (cT^^). This 
is so far well ; but he must finally get rid of the habit of 
making even himself an object of thought. There must 
be no object. What was previously the subject must now 
remain alone — an entity, a thought, a joy ; but these three 
being one only — the " existent joy- thought." l 

% 3. Concluding Remarks on the System. 

The treatises written in exposition and defence of the 
Vedanta System are very numerous, the original work of 
Veda Vyasa, of course, being the principal authority, upon 
which most other works are merely commentaries. The 
Vedanta Sdra (or essence of the Vedanta) contains, per- 
haps, the besl summary of the system, from the introduc- 
tion to which we give the following extract : — "Veda Vyasa 
obtained, by religious austerities, the discourse which 
Krishna held with Arjuna, and from this discourse com- 
posed the Veddnta for the following reasons, viz., to 
humble Kakutstha, a king of the Solar race, who was 

1 Ballantyne. 



THE VEDANTA SYSTEM. 95 

intoxicated with an idea of his own wisdom ; to point 
out that the knowledge of Brahma is the only certain way 
of obtaining liberation (*ftf% mokshi), instead of the 
severe mortification of former yugas (ages) which man- 
kind at present are incapable of performing ; and to 
destroy, among men, attachment to works of merit, since, 
so long as the desire of reward remaineth, men can never 
be delivered from liability to future birth. 

" As the primary object of a person in planting a tree 
is the fruit, and the secondary one is sitting under its 
shade, so, the chief fruit of devotion is a fixed mind on 
Brahma; the inferior fruit, a temporary enjoyment of 
happiness with the Gfods. He who has obtained emancipa- 
tion does not desire this inferior fruit. 

" Those things which perfect the knowledge of Brahma 
are— (1) Discriminating wisdom, which distinguishes be- 
tween what is changeable and what is unchangeable ; (2) 
a distaste for all worldly pleasure, and even for the happi- 
ness enjoyed by the Gods ; (3) an unruffled mind, the 
subjugation of the passions, unrepenting generosity, con- 
tempt of the world, the absence of whatever obstructs the 
knowledge of Brahma, and unwavering faith in the 
Yeda ; (4) the desire of emancipation. Brahma, the ever- 
lasting, the ever-living, is one. He is the first cause. But 
the world, which is his work, is finite, inanimate, and 
divisible. Devotedness to Brahma secures real and per- 
manent happiness. 

" Sankara Ackdrya wrote a comment on the Yedanta; 
and a disciple of Adwaita Nanda Paramhansa, a Sunydsl, 
composed from this comment the Vedanta Sara." 



96 HIND BOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

The chief upholders of the Yedanta System used to be 
the two classes of Hindu ascetics called the Dandis and 
Ihe Sunydsis ; but of late years the principles of the 
S3 r steni have been very widely adopted and advocated by 
educated natives (especially the alumni of Government 
Colleges) at Calcutta and the other principal towns of 
British India. The late talented Ranunohan-rlay was 
one of its ablest modern supporters. The doctrines of the 
school have been fully discussed and confuted by the Rev. 
Dr. Duff, in a series of lectures on Yedantism, delivered 
some years ago at Calcutta ; by the Rev. Dr. Wilson, of 
Bombay, and others. 

2.— The Mimansa Dars'ana. 
§ 4. Of the Author of the System and his Writings. 

The founder of the Mimansa School was Jaimini, of 
whose history very little is known. He is described as a 
short young man, of light complexion, wearing the dress 
of a mendicant, and living at Nilavata-Mula. He was 
born at Dwaita-vana. His father, Shakatayana, was author 
of a Sanskrit dictionary, and his son, Kriti, wrote certain 
eerses in the Devf-Bhagavata. 

There are about twenty-six works extant, illustrating 
the Mimansa System, the chief of which are the Sutras of 
Jaimini ; the Bhashya, by Shavara (and comments thereon 
by Bhatta, Vachaspati-Mishra and Kanaka); the Satika- 
Sastra-Dipika, by Soma-Natha; the Dharma-Dipika ; the 
Mimansa-Sara ; and the Mimansa Sangraha. 



THE MOIANSA' DARS'ANA. 97 

§ 5. Outline of the System. 

From the three last-named works chiefly we gather the 
following abridgment of the system of Jaimini. He 
taught that God is to be worshipped only through the 
incantations of the Yedas : that the Yedas were uncreated, 
and contained in themselves the proofs of their own di- 
vinity, the very words of which were unchangeable. His 
reasonings on the nature of material things were similar 
to those of Gautama, insisting that truth is capable of the 
clearest demonstration, without the possibility of mistake. 
Creation, preservation, and destruction, he represented as 
regulated by the merit and demerit of works ; while he 
rejected the doctrine of the total destruction of the uni- 
verse. He maintained that the images of the Gods were 
not real representations of these beings, but only given to 
assist the mind of the worshipper ; that the mere forms of 
worship had neither merit nor demerit in them ; and that 
the promises of the Sastra to persons who presented so 
many offerings, so many prayers, etc., were only given as 
allurements to duty. 

He directed the person, who sought final emancipation, 
to cherish a firm belief in the Yedas, as well as persuasion 
of the benefits of religion, and the desire of being engaged 
in the service of the Gods ; and then, by entering upon 
the duties of religion, and by degrees ascending through 
the states of a student, a secular, and a hermit, he would 
be sure to obtain final absorption in Brahma. 

Of the three divisions of the Yeda, the first, called the 
Karma Kdnda, or "practical part," relates to religious 

7 



98 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

ceremonies (including moral and religious obligations). 
This portion Jaimini has attempted to explain in his 
Sutras, and in the Pw/Ta-Mimansa (i.e., "/orwer-Mimansa," 
which is commonly referred to when the term " Mimdnsd " 
simply is used), so called in distinction from the Uttara 
(or latter) Mimansa ascribed to Yyasa, which is the same 
as the Vedanta, and is founded on the Jndna Kdnda (or 
theological part) of the Yedas, treating of the spiritual 
worship of the Supreme Being or Soul of the Universe. 1 

Sound (T&Q says Jaimini, in opposition to the Nyaiyikas, 
who deny this, is uncreated and eternal, and is of two kinds, 
viz., simple sound, or that which is produced by an im- 
pression on the air without requiring an agent, as the 
name of God ; and compound (symbolized or audible) sound. 
Thus, the state of the sea, in a perfect calm, represents 
simple, uncreated sound ; but the sea, in a state of agita- 
tion, illustrates sound as made known by an agent. 

Symbols of sounds, or letters (^TTT0> are eternal and 
uncreated ; as is also the meaning of sounds. For instance, 
when a person has pronounced ka (3i), however long he 
may continue to utter ha, ka, it is the same sound, some- 
1 imes present and sometimes absent; but sound is never 
new. Its manifestation alone is new by an impression 
made upon the air. Therefore sound is God (Brahma), and 
the world is nothing but name. 

The Veda has no human origin, but contains in itself 



1 The term Mimdnsd is derived from tndna (TT*TJ "to seek knowledge," 
"In decide," the derivation tajring the augment of the reduplicated verb 
(Wilson), and imports that the writer has rendered the meaning of the Veda 

certain. 



THE MIMANSA DARS'ANA. 99 

the evidence of divine authorship, and comes forth as 
the command of a monarch. It is incumbent on men 
to receive also., as divine, those works (of the sages) which 
are found to agree with the Yeda, to contain clear defini- 
tions of duty, and to be free from contradictions. 

What is religion ? That which secures happiness. And 
it is the duty of man to attend to the duties of religion, 
not only on this account, but in obedience to the commands 
of God. The divine law is called Vidhi (ftfa). 

Should any one say, then I have nothing to do with 
other kinds of instruction, since this alone is divine. To 
this it is replied, that forms of praise, motives to duty, and 
religious observances, are auxiliaries to the divine law, 
and have, therefore, a relative sanctity and obligation. 

There are five modes of ascertaining the commands of 
God, viz. : (1) The subject to be discussed is brought for- 
ward ; (2) questions respecting it are stated ; (3) objections 
are started ; (4) replies to these objections are given ; and 
(5), the question is decided. He who acts in religion 
according to the decision thus come to, does well ; and so 
does he who rejects what will not bear this examination ; 
but he who follows rules which have been hereby con- 
demned, labours in vain. 

Those actions from which future happiness will arise 
are called religious, or good, because productive of happi- 
ness ; and those which tend to future misery are called 
evil, on account of their evil fruits. Hence, according to 
Jaimini, actions of themselves have in them neither good 
nor evil. Their nature can only be inferred from the 
declarations of the Yeda respecting them, or from future 



100 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

consequences. The Hindus appear to have no just idea of 
moral evil. 

Of all the works on the Civil and Canon Law, that of 
Ma nu is to be held in the greatest reverence, for Manu 
composed his work after a personal study of the Yeda. 
Other sages have composed theirs from mere comments. 

From the evidence of things which God has afforded, 
especially the evidence of the senses, mistakes cannot arise 
either respecting secular or religious affairs. When there 
may exist error in this evidence, it will diminish, but 
cannot destroy the nature of things. If there be an im- 
perfection in seed, the production may be imperfect, but 
its nature will not be changed. The seat of error and 
inattention is to be found in this reasoning faculty, and 
not in the senses ; error arising from the confused union 
of present ideas (anubhava) with recollection. 

Some affirm that ideas are received into the understand- 
ing separately, and never two at the same instant. This 
is incorrect ; for it must be admitted, that while one idea 
is retained, there is an opening left in the understanding 
for the admission of another. Thus, in arithmetical 
calculations, " one added to one makes two." 

The Veda has, in some parts, forbidden all injury to 
sentient beings, and in others has prescribed the offering 
of bloody sacrifices. Jaimini explains this apparent con- 
tradiction by observing that some commands are general, 
and others particular : that the former must give way to 
the latter, as a second knot always loosens, in a degree, the 
first. So, when it is said that Saraswati is altogether 
white, it is to be understood, not literally, but generally, 



THE MTMA'NSA' DARS'ANA. 101 

for the hair and eyebrows of the goddess are not white. 
Therefore, in cases where general commands are given, 
they must be observed with those limitations which are 
found in the Sdstra. 

The promises of reward contained in the Sdstra upon 
a minute attention to the different parts of duty, have been 
given rather as an incitement to its performance than with 
the intention of entire fulfilment. He who has begun a 
ceremony, but has, by circumstances, been unable to finish 
it, shall yet not be unrewarded. 

The benefits resulting from the due performance of civil 
and social duties are confined to this life. Those con- 
nected with the performance of religious duties are to be 
enjoj^ed in a future state, while some meritorious actions, 
or virtues, reap their reward both in the present and the 
future life. 

Works give birth to invisible consequences — either pro- 
pitious or otherwise — according to their nature ; and, 
besides works, there is no other sovereign or judge. 
These consequences, ever accompanying the individual, 
as the shadow the body, appear in the next birth, in 
accordance with the time and manner in which those 
actions were performed in the preceding birth. " Works 
rule, and men by them are led or driven, as the ox with a 
hook in its nose." 

The progress of all actions, whether they originate in 
the commands of the Sastras, or in the customs of a 
country, are as follows : — First, the act is considered and 
resolved on in the mind ; then it is pursued by means of 
words ; and, lastly, it is accomplished by executing the 



102 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

different constituent parts of the action. Hence it follows 
that religion and irreligion refer to thoughts, words, and 
actions. Some actions, however, are purely those of the 
mind, or of the voice, or of the body. The virtue or vice 
of all actions depend on the state of the heart. 

The doctrine that, at a certain period, the whole uni- 
verse will be destroyed at once, is incorrect. The world 
had no beginning, and will have no end. As long as 
there are works, there must be birth, as well as a world 
like the present, to form a theatre on which they may be per- 
formed, and their consequences either enjoyed or endured. 

One of the sages of the Mimansa school thus expresses 
himself: — " God is simple sound. To assist the pious in 
their forms of meditation (or incantations l ) He is repre- 
sented as light ; but the power of liberation lies in the 
sound 'God — God/ 2 When the repeater is perfect, the 
incantation, or name repeated, appears to him in the form 
of simple light or glory. 

" The objects of worship, which are within the cognisance 
of the senses, are to be received ; for without faith religious 
actions are destitute of fruit. Therefore, let no one treat 
an incantation as a mere form of alphabetic signs, nor 
an image as composed of the inanimate material, lest he 
should be guilty of a serious crime." 

3. — Other Systems of Hindu Philosophy. 

Though the Hindu Philosophy is commonly said to be 
comprised in the six Darsanas already described, yet it 
is proper to add that there have existed in India several 
1 Mantras. 2 Brahm. 



THE SATWATAS. 103 

other sects, such as the Sdtwata, the regular Paurdniks, 
the Bauddhas, the Jains, etc. 

§ 6. The Sdhvata Sect. 

Previously to the time of Ramanuja-Charya, the Sat- 
wata 1 sect had sunk into oblivion ; but since that period, 
a body of persons, distinguished by this title, has always 
been found in different parts of India. Latterly 'they 
have been most numerous in the Karnata country. They 
study the works of the reviver of the sect, Ramanuja, and 
a comment by Tata- Chary a, along with a few other treatises. 

This creed is, in substance, as follows : — God is possessed 
of form. The terms government, effort, desire, etc., are 
wholly inapplicable to a being destitute of form. Those 
who have spoken of God as pure spirit, meant only that 
he was not clothed with a body derived from primary 
elements. The mind regulates, through actions, the future 
destiny ; but mind is an appendage to body, and not a 
part of abstract spirit. From the divine form proceed 
rays of glory, so that God appears as a body of light. 
The Deity is perfect joy. Creation arose from His will, 
and the desire to create from that energetic joy which is 
essential to the Divine nature. As soon as the mundane 
system was formed, God entered it, and began to display 
all the operations seen in the visible universe. 

In obtaining liberation, devotion is more efficacious than 
wisdom or ceremonies. A future state of bliss is connected 
with a residence near the Deity in the unchangeable abode 
of the Divine Being. 

1 Or Shatwata, according to Ward. 



104 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

This sect rejects the idea of absorption, pleading that it 
is far more pleasant to drink the sweet and cooling draught 
than to be lost in the ocean ; and that the highest happi- 
ness of which we are capable is to be near the Deity, 
partaking of His overflowing blessedness. 

§ 7. The Paurdnihs. 

Although the Purdnas appear to have led the people to 
the popular mythology, rather than to philosophic en- 
quiries, they still abound with speculations from which 
many -systems of philosophy might be formed. One sys- 
tem was taught by Loma Harshana, who attracted around 
him many disciples, and formed a distinct sect under the 
name of Pauranics, though, in Bengal, at present, those 
are called so who have merely read one or more of the 
Puranas. 

The doctrines which Loma Harshana appears to have 
taught, comprised, among others, the following : — JNTara- 
yana, the supreme cause, possesses a visible form. For 
the purposes of creation, etc., he assumed the names of 
Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, under each of which names some 
one of the three qualities prevails. For the good of man- 
kind, Narayana lias been frequently incarnate, either as a 
divine teacher, or as a leader or guide, or as a hero. In 
the different forms of the Gods, to meet the immediate and 
private wants of mankind, as to remove diseases, etc., he 
assumes various shapes. The worship of God is to be 
performed by bodily services, such as bowing to his image, 
doing menial service in a temple, etc. ; by words, i.e., by 



THE BAUDDHAS. . 105 

reading, singing, repeating his name, etc. ; and by the 
mind, as in meditating on the various forms he assumes. 

§ 8. The Bauddhas, or Buddhists. 

Among these there were six sects of philosophy, some 
of which agreed in doctrine generally with the orthodox 
sects ; but all of them deny an intelligent separate first 
cause. The founder of Buddhism was Buddha Sakya 
Muni, called also Gautama 1 Sakya-sinha, as to the period 
of whose existence historical data are exceedingly con- 
tradictory. The Chinese records fix his death at about 
1000 B.C., while those of Ceylon place it in 543 b.c. The 
political triumph of Buddhism in India dates from the 
sera of Asoka, about the middle of the third century B.C. 
It was definitively introduced into China in a.d. 61, and 
into Ceylon probably during the third century B.c. The 
chronology of Buddhism is discussed at great length 
by Max Miiller in his a Ancient Sanskrit Literature." 
Buddhists were the great opponents of the Brahmans. 
Buddha himself was a Kshatriya, but of princely origin. 
He was not the first of his caste who sternly opposed the 
ambitions of the Brahmans. Visvamitra, among others, 
who was also of the royal caste, had several centuries 
before struggled, with some success, against the exclusive- 
ness of the priests. The Brahmans, however, were ulti- 
mately victorious, and succeeded in driving Buddhism 
almost entirely out of India, which found a successful 
footing in Burmah, Ceylon, and China. 

1 He must not be confounded with Gautama, the founder of the Nyaya 
School. 



106 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

§ 9. The Jains. 

Though these, like the Buddhists, may be regarded as 
rather a religious than a purely philosophical sect, yet as, 
in all the schools and systems, religion and philosophy are 
inseparably united, perhaps this may be the most befitting 
place to notice their peculiar tenets. 

The founder of this system was Eishabha-deva, a Hindu, 
who is said to have been incarnate thirteen times, each of 
which avatars is distinguished by the epithet Jina. 1 This 
term is also applied to the twenty-four Tirthanharas, or 
saints, who are supposed to flourish in an Avasarpini, or 
Jaina age, the last of whom was Mahavira. 

The leading tenets of the Jains, and those which chiefly 
distinguish them from the rest of the Hindus, are — first, 
the denial of the divine origin and infallible authority 
of the Yedas ; secondly, the reverence of certain holy 
mortals, who acquired by practises of self-denial and morti- 
fication a station superior to that of the gods ; and thirdly, 
extreme and even ludicrous tenderness for animal life. 

The disregard of the authority of the Yedas is common 
to the Jains and the Bauddhas, and involves a neglect of 
the rites which they prescribe ; in fact, it is in a great 
degree from those rites that an inference unfavourable to 
the sanctity of the Vcdas is drawn ; and, not to speak of 
the sacrifices of animals, which the Yedas occasionally 
enjoin, the Homa, or burnt-offering, which forms a part of 
every ceremonial in those works, is an abomination ; as 

f^J«T from f^f " to conquer," i.e. be who has overcome the "eight great 
crimes." 



THE JAINS. 107 

insects crawling among the fuel, bred in the ghi, or falling 
into the flame, may be destroyed by every oblation. As 
far, however, as the doctrines they teach are conformable 
to the Jain tenets, the Yedas are admitted as of divine 
authority. 

The Jains are divided into religious and lay orders, 
Yatis and Sravakas. Having no priests of their own, 
Brahmans officiate in their temples. The Jains are divided 
into Digambaras and Swetambaras ; the former sky-clad, 
i.e. naked, the latter white- robed. In the present day, 
however, the Digambaras in general are only entirely 
divested of covering at meals. 

The literature of the Jains is very extensive, including 
Puranas of their own, writers on astronomy, astrology, 
medicine, mathematical sciences, etc. 

The followers of this sect were formerly very popular in 
Hindustan, and are still very numerous, especially in the 
Doab, about Mainpiiri, and also in Guzerat. The pro- 
vinces of Me war and Marwar are the cradle of the Jain 
system. 

The only other philosophical or religious sect we shall 
mention here is that of 

§ 10. The Khdndanas. 

The founder of this sect was Sri Marsha, 1 who in a work 
called the Khandana taught a system different from all 
the Darsanas, from which circumstance he received the 
title of the Khandana kdra, or the destroyer. 

1 He was the author of a poem called the Naishada. 



PART III. 

POETICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE. 



CHAPTER I. 
ON THE EPIC POETRY OF THE HINDUS. 

§ 1. Introductory Remarks. 

That Epic poetry, traditional as well as improvised, on 
the spur of the moment, existed during the Yedic age, 
though it was lost afterwards, is a fact clearly established 
hy passages and references in the Brahmanas and other 
works of the Sutra age. In the collection of the Yedic 
hymns, there are some which may be called epic, and may 
be compared with the short hymns ascribed to Homer. 
In the Brahmanas passages occur, in prose and verse, 
celebrating the actions of old kings ; and on certain public 
occasions, such as at the Horse Sacrifice (as we learn from 
the S&nkhyana Sutras, as quoted by Max Midler), the 
priest, on each of tin- ten days which it occupied, had to 
recite a story for the instruction and entertainment of the 
people, doubtless mostly or all in metre, and of a decidedly 
epical character. Many compositions of this kind, there- 
fore, must have existed in Yedic times, though they are 



THE RAMA'YANA. 109 

now lost ; and songs in celebration of great heroes were, 
doubtless, current in India quite as early as the Homeric 
poems in Greece, and perhaps earlier. 

The two great Epic poems of the Hindus are the 
Rdmdyana and the Mahd-bhdrata. To fix the exact period 
at which either of them was composed is now impossible, 
though, from internal evidence, they must both have been 
the productions of a post-vedic age. 

§ 2. The Rdmdyana 

was, no doubt, the more ancient of the two Indian Epics. 
Neither it nor the Maha-bharata, nor any of the produc- 
tions of antecedent ages, was committed to writing till 
many centuries after their original composition. In the 
fourth chapter of the first book of the Ramayana, we meet 
with special reference to the minstrels and reciters, by 
whom, like the Greek pa^aSol, the ancient Hindu poems, 
previous to the invention of writing in India, were pre- 
served and transmitted from age to age. 1 

1 Max Miiller, who discusses at some length, (in his work on Ancient 
Sanskrit Literature) the interesting question, -when writing was first introduced 
into India, considers that it was practised there hefore the time of Alexander's 
conquests, and that " though it may not have been used for literary purposes, 
we can hardly doubt that a written alphabet was known during the greater 
part of the Sutra period." Megasthenes declared that the Indians did not 
know letters, and that their laws were not written, and that they administered 
justice from memory ; and Nearchus, though he ascribes to the Indians the 
art of making paper of cotton, states that their laws were not reduced to 
writing. Both these Greek writers, however, mention that the Indians used 
letters for inscriptions on mile-stones, etc. In the Lalita-Vistara, a work con- 
taining the life of Buddha (which was translated into Chinese A.D. 76) the 
young S'akya {i.e., Buddha) is represented as learning to write. And the 
first authenticated inscription in India is of Buddhist origin, and belongs to 
the third century before Christ. Written Sanskrit books were certainly known 
in Panini's time, who was probably contemporaneous with Alexander, if not 
before. 



HO HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

The word Earn ay ana (THT+^U*l«l) means the adven- 
tures of Rama, who was one of the incarnations of Vishnu, 
the Preserver, and is still a favourite deity in most parts of 
India, more especially in the districts of Oude and Bahar, 
where Krishna has not supplanted him. There were three 
Rainas in Hindu mythology, viz., Parasu-Rama, Rania- 
Chandra, and Bala-Rama, all avatars (or incarnations) of 
Vishnu. The last is the Indian Hercules, and as the 
elder brother of Krishna, appears frequently in the Maha- 
bharata. Parasu-Rama, as the son of the sage Jamadagni, 
is the type of Brahmanism, arrayed in opposition to the 
Kshatriyas, or military caste. He is introduced once into 
the Rarnayana, but only to exhibit his inferiority to the 
real hero of the work, viz., Rania- Chandra, who, as the 
son of Dasaratha, a prince of the solar dynasty, typifies 
the conquering Kshatriyas, advancing towards the south, 
and subjugating the barbarous aborigines, who are repre- 
sented by Ravana and his followers. 

There are many poems bearing the name of Ramayana 
— all relating to the same hero — but by far the most com- 
plete and famous is the lengthy epic, the authorship of 
which is attributed to Vdlmiki. 

It narrates the banishment of Rama, under the surname 
of Chandra (the moon), a prince belonging to the dynasty 
of the kings of Ayodhyd ; his wanderings through the 
southern peninsula; the seizure of his wife, Sita, by the 
giant ruler of Ceylon (Ravana) ; the miraculous conquest 
of lli is island by Rama, aided by Sugriva, king of the 
monkeys (or foresters — the word bandar meaning both), or 
J!a/t.s/iasas as they are also called, and by Vibhishana, the 



THE KAMATANA. HI 

brother of Havana ; the slaying of the ravishing demon 
by Kama, and recovering of Sit a ; and the restoration of 
Chandra to the empire of his ancestors at Ayodhya. 

No mention is made of Rama in the Yeda, but he may 
be regarded as the first real Kshatriya hero of the post- 
vedic age ; and looking to the great simplicity of the style 
of the Ramayana, the absence of any reliable allusion to 
Buddhism as an established fact, and to the practices 
known to have prevailed in India as early as the fourth 
century before Christ, as well as from other considerations, 
"we cannot/' says Monier Williams (Essay on Indian 
Epic Poetry), " be far wrong in asserting that a great 
portion, if not the whole, of the Ramayana, as we now 
have it, must have been current in India as early as the 
fifth century before Christ." 

Yalmiki's work consists of 24,000 slokas (or distichs), 
divided into seven books, which are again subdivided into 
chapters. It may be divided into three principal parts, or 
periods, corresponding to the three chief epochs in the life 
of Rama. (I.) The account of his youthful days ; his 
education and residence at the court of his father Dasa- 
ratha, king of Ayodhya ; his happy marriage to Sita ; and 
his inauguration as heir- apparent or Crown Prince. (II.) 
The circumstances that led to his banishment ; the de- 
scription of his exile and residence in the forests of 
Central India. (III.) His war with the giants or demons 
of the south for the recovery of his wife Sita, who had 
been carried off by their chief Ravana ; his conquest and 
destruction of Ravana, and his restoration to the throne 
of his father. 



112 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

In the first two sections of the poem, there is little of 
extravagant fiction; but in the third, the poet mars the 
beauty of the descriptions by the wildest exaggeration and 
hyperbole. 

The poem seems to be founded on historical fact ; and 
the traditions of the south of India uniformly ascribe its 
civilization, the subjugation, or dispersion of its forest 
tribes of barbarians, and the settlement of civilised Hindus, 
to the conquest of Lanka (Ceylon) by Rama. 

A part of the Raniayana was published, with a transla- 
tion, by Messrs Carey and Marshman, some forty years 
ago, and a Latin translation of the first book has been 
more recently published by Professor Schlegel. The entire 
last book, in which Rama receives adoration as a Grod, and 
is identified with the supreme, is, doubtless, a modern 
appendage. 

§ 3. The Mahd'bkdrata. 

This huge epic, which is in all probability later in date 
than the Ramayana, and consists of about 220,000 long 
lines, is rather a cyclopaedia of Hindu mythology, 
legendary history, and philosophy, than a poem with a 
single subject. It is divided into eighteen books, nearly 
every one of which would form a large volume ; and the 
whole is a vast thesaurus of national legends, said to have 
been collected and arranged by Vydsa (the supposed com- 
piler of the Yedas and Puranas), a name derived from a 
Sanskrit verb, meaning " to fit together/' or " arrange." 

The following is an outline of the leading story, though 
this occupies little more than a fifth of the whole work, 



THE MAHABHARATA. 113 

numerous episodes and digressions on all varieties of 
subjects being interspersed throughout the poem : — 

According to the legendary history of India, two 
dynasties were originally dominant in the north — called 
Solar and Lunar, under whom numerous petty princes held 
authority, and to whom they acknowledged fealty. The 
most celebrated of the Solar line, which commenced in 
Ikskwdku, and reigned in Oude, was the Rama of the 
Ramayana. Under this dynasty the Brahmanieal system 
gained ascendancy more rapidly and completely than 
under the Lunar kings in the more northern districts, 
where fresh arrivals of martial tribes preserved an inde- 
pendent spirit among the population already settled in 
those parts. , 

The most famous of the Lunar race, who reigned in 
Hastinapur, or ancient Delhi, was Bharata, whose au- 
thority is said to have extended over a great part of India, 
and from whom India is to this day called by the natives 
Bharat-varsha (the country or domain of Bharata). This 
Bharata was an ancestor of Kuru, the twenty-third in 
descent from whom was the Brahman Krishna Dwaipdyana 
Vydsa (the supposed author of the Mahabharata), who had 
two sons, Dhritardshtra and Pdndu. The former, though 
blind, consented to assume the government when resigned 
by his younger brother Pandu, and undertook to educate, 
with his own hundred sons, the five reputed sons of his 
brother. These five sons were, — 1st, Yudhishthira (i.e., 
"firm in battle"); 2nd, Bhima (i.e., "terrible"); 3rd, 
Arjuna (i.e., "upright"); 4th, Nakula (i.e., "a mun- 
goose ") ; 5th, Sahadeva (i.e., " a twining plant"). 

8 



114 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

The three first were born from Pandu's wife, Pritha, or 
Kunti, but were really her children by three gods, viz., 
Dharma, 1 Vayu, 2 and Indra 3 respectively. The two last 
were children of his wife Madri, by the Aswini-Kumaras, 
or " twin sons," i.e., of the Sun. As, however, Pandu had 
acknowledged these princes as his sons, the objection to 
their birth was overruled by his example. Pandu (i.e., 
"the pule") was probably a leper, and so incapable of 
succession. 

The characters of the five Pandavas are drawn with 
much artistic delicacy, and maintained consistently through- 
out the poem. The eldest, Yudhishthira, is a pattern of 
justice, integrity, and chivalrous honour and firmness. 
Bhima is a type of brute courage and strength, of gigantic 
stature, impetuous and irascible ; he is capable, however, 
of warm, unselfish love, and shows devoted affection for 
his mother and brothers. Arjuna, who is the chief hero 
of the poem, is represented as a man of undaunted courage, 
and, at the same time, generous, modest, and tender- 
hearted ; of super-human strength, withal, and matchless 
in arms and athletic exercises. Nakula and Sahadeva are 
amiable, noble-minded, and spirited. All five are as 
unlike as possible to the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra, 
commonly called the Ivuru princes, or Kauravas, who 
arc represented as mean, spiteful, dishonourable, and 
vicious. The cousins, though so uncongenial in character, 
were educated together at Hastinapur by a Brahman 
named Drona, who found in the Pandu princes apt 

1 The God of Justice, the Hindu Pluto. ~ God of the Wind (iEolus.) 

3 (Jod of the Firmament (Jupiter tonaus.) 



THE MAHABHARATA. 115 

scholars. Their education finished, a grand tournament 
is held, at which the cousins display their skill in archery, 
the management of chariots, horses, etc. Arjuna especially 
distinguishes himself by prodigies of strength and skill; 
but suddenly a stranger enters the lists, named Karna, 
who, after performing the same feats, challenges Arjuna 
to single combat. But each champion is obliged to tell 
his name and pedigree, and Kama's parentage being 
doubtful (he was really the illegitimate son of Pritha, by 
Surya (the sun), and, therefore, half-brother of Arjuna), 
he is obliged to retire ignominously from the arena. Thus 
publicly humiliated, Karna joins the party of their enemies, 
the Kurus, to whom he renders important service. En- 
raged at the result of this contest, the Kurus endeavour to 
destroy the Pandavas by setting fire to their house ; but 
they, warned of their intention, escape by an underground 
passage to the woods. Soon after, in the disguise of 
mendicant Brahmans, they repair to the S-ivayamvara (the 
public choice of a husband), by Draupadi, daughter of 
Drupada, king of Panchala. Arjuna, by the exhibition 
of his gymnastic skill, wins the favour of the lovely 
princess, who becomes his bride. Strengthened by Dru- 
pada's alliance, the Pandu princes throw off their disguise, 
and the king, Dhritarashtra, is induced to settle all 
differences by dividing his kingdom between them and his 
own sons, the Kurus. Yudhishthira, however, afterwards 
stakes and loses his whole territory at dice. His brothers 
then pass twelve years in the woods, in disguise, after which 
the war is again renewed. Krishna, King of Dwaraka, in 
Guzerat (an incarnation of Vishnu), joins the Pandavas, 



116 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

as charioteer to Arjuna. The rival armies meet near Delhi. 
The battle, which lasts for eighteen days, terminates in 
favour of the Pandavas, who recover their possession, and 
the elder brother is elevated to the throne, Duryodhana and 
all the Kurus being slain in the conflict. 

Thus the undivided kingdom of Hastinapur became the 
possession of the sons of Pandu ; but they were so grieved 
by the dreadful slaughter which their ambition had occa- 
sioned, that they resigned their power. Their famous 
ally, Krishna — who previous to his founding the city of 
Dwaraka, had been expelled from Mathura (Muttra), the 
seat of his family — was accidentally killed in a thicket, and 
his sons, driven from their paternal possessions, sought 
refuge beyond the Indus. 

Such is a very brief outline of the leading story of the 
Maha-bharata ; but the episodes, which occupy more than 
three-fourths of the whole poem, deserve a passing notice. 

§ 4. The Bhagavad- Gita. 

This is a divine song, in the form of a discourse, be- 
tween the Avatar Krishna and his pupil Arjuna, held in 
the midst of an undecided battle. It gives a full and 
most curious exposition of the half-mythological, half- 
philosophical pantheism of the Brahmans, and a general 
view of the whole mystic theology of the Hindus. Schlegel 
calls this episode the most beautiful, and, perhaps, the 
only truly philosophical poem in the whole range of litera- 
ture known to us. There is something striking and 
magnificent in the introduction of this solemn discussion 



BHAGAVAD-GrTA AND NALOPAKHYANAM. 117 

on the nature of the Gfodhead and the destiny of man in 
the midst of the fury and tumult, of civil war in which 
it occurs. It consists of eighteen lectures on so many 
different subjects. Numerous translations have been made 
of it into various languages. 

§ 5. The Nalopdkhydnam. 

This episode forms part of the third book of the great 
Epic. It is of entirely a different cast from the last, and 
is said to partake more of the manner of our own Spenser 
than of the philosophic tone of the Gita. 

The gist of the story is briefly as follows : — 
Yudhishthira, the eldest of the Pandus, is in exile in 
the wilderness, where he and his four brothers are doomed 
to pass twelve years, according to an engagement he had 
entered into with his opponent Duryodhana, with whom 
he had lost in dice. The sage, Vrihadasva, bears him 
company; and to amuse and console him, relates the 
history of King Nala, who, like himself, had lost his 
empire and wealth by playing at dice, but in the end 
became fortunate and happy. Nala, king of Nishada, 
possessed all the noble qualities and acquirements that 
could distinguish an Indian monarch. Bhima, king of 
Vidarbha (Berar) had an only daughter, the most beauti- 
ful and accomplished of her sex — the gentle Damyanti. 
Nala and Damyanti became mutually enamoured from the 
mere fame of each others virtues. The Swayamvara of 
the princess is about to take place. Nala repairs as a 
suitor to Vidarbha ; but Indra and three other gods 



118 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

become incarnate for the same purpose, and, meeting Nala 
in the way, they beg him to be the bearer of their message 
of love. He remonstrates, but at last consents. He 
delivers it, but Damyanti declares that, even in the 
presence of the gods, she shall select the noble Nala. 
The assembly meets, and all the royal suitors are in 
array ; but Damyanti discovers, to her dismay, five Nalas, 
each of the deities having assumed the form, features, and 
dress of the king of Nishada. She utters a supplicatory 
prayer to the gods to reveal to her the true object of her 
choice. They are moved with compassion, and stand con- 
fess* (1, their spiritual bodies being distinguished from that 
of the human hero by their casting no shadow, nor touching 
the ground, and otherwise. Damyanti throws the wreath 
of flowers around the neck of the real Nala in token of her 
choice. The assembly breaks up amid the applause of the 
gods, and t lie lamentations of the disappointed suitors. 
The nuptials arc celebrated, and Nala and his bride are 
blessed with two lovely children. 

Nala, the model of virtue, and piety, and learning, at 
length performs the Aswameda, or sacrifice of a horse, the 
height of Indian devotion. In the course of time, how- 
9Ver, Nala is induced by an evil spirit, to play at dice with 
his brother, Pu&hkara, and loses his kingdom, his wealth, 
ln's very clothes. One stake only remains, — Damyanti 
herself. Tins Pnshkara proposes, but Nala refuses. The 
Ql-fated pair are driven together into the wilderness all 
but naked. Nala persuades ln's wife to leave him, and re- 
turn to her father's court, but she will not forsake him. The 
frantic man, however, resolves to abandon her while asleep. 



NALOPAKHYANAM AND HARIVANS'A. H9 

He does so. Each, passes through a series of strange and 
stormy adventures, ending in Nala becoming master of the 
horse to the King of Ayodhya (Oude), and Damyanti return- 
ing to her father's house. After some time, Damyanti, in 
order to discover the retreat of Nala, proclaims her inten- 
tion to hold another Swayamvara, and to form a second 
marriage, though forbidden by the laws of Manu. Bitu- 
parna, the King of Oude, resolves to become a suitor, and 
sets forth with his charioteer — the disguised Nala. As 
they enter the city of Bhima, Damyanti recognises the 
sound of her husband's trampling steeds — his driving 
could not be mistaken by her ear. She employs every 
artifice to discover her lord ; she suspects the charioteer ; 
she procures some of his food, and recognises the flavour 
of her husband's cookery ; she sends her children to him. 
Nala can conceal himself no longer ; but the jealous 
thought that his wife was about to take a second husband, 
rankles in his heart, and he rebukes her with sternness. 
Damyanti solemnly denies any such design, declaring that 
she had only employed the artifice to win back her lord. 
Nala re-assumes his proper form and character — wins back 
his wife and all that he had lost to his unprincipled 
brother, and, re-ascending his ancestral throne, recom- 
mences a reign of piety, justice, and felicity. 

§ 6. The Harivansa {i.e., family of Vishnu), etc. 

This forms a sort of appendix to the Maha-bharata, 
consisting of 25,000 verses. It recounts the adventures of 
Krishna, and subsequent fate of his family; but commences 



120 II \XD BOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

with an account of the creation of the world, and of the 
patriarchal and regal dynasties. 1 The principal other 
episodes are — 

4. " The Deluge' 2 — an Indian tradition of the deluge of 
Noah. — This has been translated by Bopp and Milnian. 

5. " The Rape of Draupadi" and the combat of her five 
husbands to revenge it. 

6. " The Death of Si&updla," and an account of Krishna's 
war with him. 

7. " The Brahman's Lament " over the orgies of the 
cannibal-giant Baka. The Baka-badka (as it is called in 
the original), or Brahmanavitapa, has been translated, in 
verse, by Dean Milman. 

1 An English translation of the Harivans'a, with a critique on the French 
version of M. Langlois, is given in the Asiat. Journ., Fob., 1828. 

* This episode occurs in the Vana-parva of the Mahabharata. The hero of 
it is Maim, the Noah of the Hindus, not the grandson of Brahma, and reputed 
author of the Code, but the seventh Mann, or Manu of the Kali Yug (or pre- 
sent period), called Vaivaswata, and regarded as one of the progenitors of the 
human race. _ He is represented as conciliating the favour of the Supreme by 
his penance in an age of universal depravity. The earliest account of him 
is in the S'atapatha Brahmana, attached to the Vajasaneyi Sanhitu of the 
Yajur-veda. 



121 



CHAPTEE II. 

Otf THE PTJRABTAS AJS T D DRAMATIC WORKS. 

§ 1. The Purdnas Generally Described. 1 

The different works known by the name of Pur an as are 
evidently derived from the same religious system as the 
Painayana and Mahabharata, or from the mytho-heroic 
stage of Hindu belief. They present, however, peculi- 
arities which designate their belonging to a later period, 
and to an important modification in the progress of opinion. 
They repeat the theoretical cosmogony of the two great 
poems ; they expand and systematise the chronological 
computations ; and they give a more definite and con- 
nected representation of the mythological fictions and 
historical traditions. But, besides these, and other par- 
ticulars, they offer characteristic peculiarities in the para- 
mount importance they assign to individual deities, in the 
variety and purport of the rites and observances addressed 
to them, and in the invention of new legends illustrative 
of the power and graciousness of those divinities, and of 
the efficacy of implicit devotion to them. Siva and 
Vishnu, under one or other form, are almost the sole 

1 Abridged from Professor "Wilson's Preface to Translation of tlic Vishnu 
Purana. 



122 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

objects that claim the homage of the Hindus in the 
Puranas : departing from the domestic and elemental 
ritual of the Vcdas, and exhibiting a sectarial favour and 
exclusiveness not traceable in the Rama^ana, and only to 
a qualified extent in the Mahabharata. They are no 
longer authorities for Hindu belief as a whole, but were 
evidently compiled for the purposes of promoting the 
special worship of Vishnu and Siva. 

It is probable, however, that there may have been an 
earlier class of Puranas, of which those we now have are 
but the partial and adulterated representatives. The name 
itself, Purdna ("old") indicates the object of the com- 
pilation to be the preservation of ancient traditions , a 
purpose, in the present condition of the Puranas, but very 
imperfectly fulfilled. " I cannot discover in them," says 
Col. Vans Kennedy, " any other object than that of re- 
ligious instruction. The descriptions of the earth and 
planetary systems, and the lists of royal races which occur 
in tl lorn, are evidently extraneous." 

<; 2. The Cosmogony and Tltcogony of the Puranas. 

These may both, probably, be traced to the Vedas. The 
scheme of primary or elemental creation they borrow 
from the Sankhya philosophy, which is, probably, one of 
the oldest forma of speculation on man and nature amongst 
II Indus. 

Thr Pantheism (or, \ iewed in one light, the Polytheism) 
of tin* Puranas is one of their invariable characteristics, 
although tlit- particular divinity — who is all things, from 



THE PUKANAS. 123 

whom all things proceed, and to whom all things return — 
be diversified according to their individual sectarial bias. 
They seem to have derived the notion from the Yedas ; 
but in them the one universal Being is of a higher order 
than a personification of attributes and elements, and — 
however imperfectly conceived or unworthily described — 
is God. In the Puranas, the one only Supreme Being is 
supposed to be manifest in the person of Siva or Yishnu, 
either in the way of illusion (^lillj, or in sport ; and one 
or other of these divinities is, therefore, the cause of all 
that is — is himself all that exists. 

§ 3. As to Date. 

The Puranas are evidently works of different ages, and 
have been compiled under different circumstances. It is 
highly probable that, of the present popular forms of the 
Hindu religion, none assumed their actual state earlier 
than the time of Sankara Acharya, the great Saiva 
reformer, who flourished, in all likelihood, in the eighth 
or ninth century. Of tlie Vaishnava teachers, Ramanuja 
dates in the 12th century, Madhvacharya in the 13th, and 
Yallabha in the 16th ; and the Puranas seem to have 
accompanied or followed their innovations, being evidently 
intended to advocate the doctrines they taught. 

§ 4. Their Style. 

The invariable form of the Puranas is that of dialogue, 
in which some person relates their contents in reply to the 



124 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

enquiries of another. The immediate narrator is com- 
monly, though not constantly, Loma-harshana, a disciple 
of the famous Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, the son of 
Parasara, who is said to have taught the Ycdas and 
Puranas to various disciples, but who appears to have 
been the head of a college or school, under whom various 
learned men gave to the sacred literature of the Hindus 
the form in which it now presents itself, Yydsa being a 
generic term, meaning " an arranger or compiler." 

Loma-harshana was a Siita, i.e. a bard or panegyrist, who 
was created, according to the Vishnu Purana, to celebrate 
the exploits of princes ; and hence, perhaps, the appropria- 
tion, in a great measure, of the Puranas to the genealogies 
of regal dynasties and descriptions of the universe. 

§ 5. The Pitrdnas enumerated. 

The Puranas arc uniformly stated to be eighteen in 
number. Their mimes are as follows : — (1) The Brahma 
Purana; (2) the Padma ; (3) the Vaishnava; (4) the 
: (5) the Bhdgavata ; (6) the Ndrada ; (7) the 
Mdrkandeya ; (8) the A'gneya; (9) the Bhaviskya; (10) 
the Brdhma-vaivartta ; (11) the Lainga ; (12) the Ydrdha; 
(13) the Skdnda\ (11) the Vdmana; (15) the Kaurma\ 
(16) the MaUya ; (17) the Gdruda ; (18) the Brahmdnda. 

This list is according to the Bhdgavata. In other au- 
thorities there are a few variations in the titles, but not 
in the number. 

It is said that there are also eighteen Upa-puranas, or 
minor Puranas; but the names of these are specified in 



THE PURANAS. 125 

the least receivable authorities, and the greater number of 
the works are not procurable. 

§ 6. Classified and Described. 

The Puranas are, in the Padma, divided into three 
classes, according to the qualities which characterise or 
prevail in them, viz., the Satwika, the Tdmasa, and the 
Rdjasa, from the predominence, respectively, of the quali- 
ties of satwa (goodness or purity), tamas (gloom or 
ignorance), or rajas (passion), which distinguishes each. 
Those in which the mahdtmya (greatness) of Hari, or 
Vishnu, prevails, are Satwika ; those in which the legends 
of Agni, or Siva, predominates, are Tdmasa; and those 
wnich dwell most on the stories of Brahma, are Rdjasa. 
These last are special favourites with the sdktas, or wor- 
shippers of soldi, or the female principle. It is in the 
Puranas included in the Pajasa class that such legends 
occur as the Durga Mahatmya (an episode of the Mar- 
kandeya), on which the worship of Durga, or Kali, is 
especially founded. The Brahma-vaivartta (another of the 
same class) devotes a great portion of its contents to the 
celebration of Padha, the mistress of Krishna, and other 
female divinities. Indeed, the principal subject of the 
Pajasa class seems to be the worship of Krishna, and the 
account of his amours, and as the sojourner in Yrindavan, 
under the title of Gopdla, and Bdl- Gopdla, the companion 
of the cowherds and milkmaids, the lover of Padha, or as 
the juvenile master of the universe, Jaganndtlia. 

The aggregate number of Slokas in the Puranas is stated 
to be 400,000 or 1,600,000 lines. 



126 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

§ 7. Of the Skdnda and Padma Puranas. 

The longest of the Puranas seems to have been the 
Skdnda, which is said to have contained 81,000 stanzas, 
but in a collected form it is no longer in existence. Only 
fragments of it are met with in the shape of Sanhitas, 
Kandas, and Mahatmyas. The most celebrated of these 
portions is the Kdsi-Kdnda, which gives a minute de- 
scription of the temples of Siva in or near Benares 
(Kasi), mixed with directions for worshipping Mahesh- 
wara (Siva). The greater part, at least, of this Kanda 
was most probably written before the first attack on 
Benares by Mahmiid of Ghazni. The story of Agastya 
records, in a legendary style, the propagation of Hinduism 
in the south of India. 

The Padma Parana, which is the next longest, contains 
55,000 stanzas, and gives an account of the period when 
i he world wns a golden lotus (padma), Brahma assuming 
that form at creation. 

§ 8. Of the Vishnu Parana. 

I Jut the best known of all is the Vishnu Parana, on 
account of the translation of it, with a long preface and 
numerous notes, by Professor II. II. Wilson, who gives, 
i,i lii- preface, a lull analysis of all the other Puranas, so 
far as their contents arc ascertainable. It contains 23,000 
stanzas, In this work, Parasara, beginning with the 
events of the Vardha Kalpa, expounds all duties, especially 
in connection with the worship of Vishnu (as Krishna). 



THE PURA'NAS. 127 

The fourth book, which contains the genealogies of the 
royal family, commencing with the Solar and Lunar 
dynasties, until a comparatively modern period, may be 
regarded as a valuable epitome of Hindu history. 

Another of the Puranas deserves special notice here, as 
one of great celebrity in India, and as exercising a more 
direct and powerful influence on the opinions and feelings 
of the people than perhaps any other of the Puranas, viz. — 

§ 9. The Sri Bhagavata. 

This is placed fifth in all the lists, except in that of the 
Padma Purana, which ranks it as the 18th, as being the 
extracted substance of all the rest. It is so named from 
being dedicated to the glorification of Bhagavat or Vishnu. 

It consists of 18,000 verses. The Bhagavata was com- 
municated to the Eishis at Naimisharanya by the Suta (or 
bard) Loma-harshana ; but he only repeats what was re- 
lated to him by Suka, the son of Vyasa, to Parikshit, the 
king of Hastinapura, grandson of Arjuna. Having in- 
curred the imprecation of a hermit, by which he was 
sentenced to die of the bite of a venomous serpent at 
the expiration of seven days, the king, in preparation 
for this event, repairs to the banks of the Ganges, whither 
also come the gods and sages, to witness his death. 
Among the latter is Suka ; and it is in reply to Parik- 
shit' s question, what a man should do who is about to die, 
that he narrates the Bhagavata, as he had heard it from 
Vyasa, for nothing secures final happiness so certainly as to 
die whilst the thoughts are wholly engrossed by Vishnu. 



128 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

The narrative opens with a cosmogony, which, though 
in most respects similar to that of the other Puranas, is 
more largely mixed up with allegory and mysticism, and 
derives its tone more from the Yedanta than the Sankhya 
philosophy. 

The fourth Skanda contains the Manwantara of Swa- 
yambhuva, and describes the multiplication of the patri- 
archial families. The tenth book is the characteristic 
part of this Purina, and the portion on which its popu- 
larity is founded. It is appropriated to the history of 
Krishna more in detail than in the Vishnu Pur ana. It 
his been translated into nearly all the languages of India. 
The Prem Sdr/ar is the Hindi version of it. 

Colcbrookc thinks the Bhagavata to be the work of the 
grammarian Vopadeva, six hundred years ago. Its au- 
thenticity is doubtful. It would be tedious and super- 
fluous to dwell longer on the Puranas, by giving even the 
briefest analysis of the contents and characteristics of the 
remaining works so called. We proceed, therefore, to 
notice the 

§ 10. Dramatic and other Poetical Comjiositions, 

to which reference has not already been made. 

The classical poetry of ancient India is divided into 
three periods. The first is thai of the Vedas, the second 
dial dl' the great Epics, the third that of the Drama. A 
fourth is mentioned, but as it is of later date (since the 
birth of Christ), it is not considered as belonging to the 
(lassie age. The difference of style alone between the 



KALIDA'SA. 129 

Yedas and the great Epic poems already noticed, is so 
great as to prove that centuries must have elapsed between 
their respective composition. The language of the former 
is visibly softened and polished in the Epic, nearly as 
much as that of the Iliad in the hands of the Grecian 
dramatists. The bards of India have given to poetry 
nearly every form which it has assumed in the western 
world ; and in each and all they have excelled. Its 
heroic poets have been likened to Homer ; Vyasa is not 
unworthy of comparison with Milton — his JSTala and 
Damyanti with the " Eaerie Queen " of Spenser. In the 
Drama, Kalidasa has been designated the Indian Shake- 
speare. Under the present head, therefore, we shall com- 
mence with some account of that great poet and his works. 

§11. Kaliddsa. 

Kalidasa is reputed to have been one of the ornaments 
(or " gems ") of the court of Yikramaditya, king of 
Ujayin, whose reign, used as a chronological epoch by 
the Hindus, is placed fifty- six years before the Christian 
era. His poems, undoubtedly, belong to a classical period 
of Hindu literature, and "that period, there is reason to 
believe (says Professor Wilson), did not long survive the 
first centuries of Christianity. The poets of later date 
were men of more scholarship than imagination, and 
substituted an artificial display of the powers of lan- 
guage for the enforced utterance of the feeling or the 
fancy." 

The most celebrated, perhaps, of the works of Kalidasa 

9 



130 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

is his Sakuntald, or "the Fatal Ring," a drama, in seven 
acts, the plot of which is taken from an episode of the 
Mahabharata. 

§ 12, The Sakuntald. 

It was the publication of a translation of this play, by- 
Sir William Jones, full seventy years ago, which Max 
Muller thinks "may fairly be considered as the starting 
point of Sanskrit philology." "The first appearance of 
this beautiful specimen of dramatic art," he continues, 
" created, at the time, a sensation throughout Europe, and 
the most rapturous praise was bestowed upon it by men of 
high authority in matters of taste." It has since been 
translated into French, with elaborate notes, b} T M. Chez}- 
and, more recently, a beautiful edition of a new, partly 
poetical, translation has been published (in English) by 
Professor Monier Williams. Dr. Gilchrist also (in 1827) 
edited a translation of it into "elegant Ilindoostanee," 
which had been made long before his time. 

The Hindu drama possesses one striking peculiarity 
which should alone secure it general favour. "It is 
impossible," says Professor Wilson, "that the dramatic 
compositions of India should have been borrowed from any 
other people, either of ancient or modern times; besides 
which, they present characteristic features in their conduct 
and construction which plainly evince their original design 
and national development." 

In I he Saknntala, as in nio-t other Hindu dramas, the 
common people are represented as speaking the Prakrit, 
or vulgarised Sanskrit, while the language of the higher 



THE WORKS OF KA'LIDASA. 131 

and more educated classes is the classical Sanskrit of the 
present type. 

§ 13. The Baghu - Vansa 

is another poem by Kalidasa, in nineteen cantos, and is 
considered one of the most admirable compositions in the 
Sanskrit language. It contains a history of the ancestors 
of Rama, commencing with Dilipi, the father of Paghu, 
one of the kings of Ayodhya (Oude) — who was the grand- 
father of Rama-chandra — and carrying down the history 
of his descendants to Agnivira, giving a genealogical table 
of twent}r-nine princes in all. Nearly one-half of the 
work relates to the history of Haghu, and as much to that 
of Rama and other intermediate princes of the line. 

§ 14. The Megha-Duta, or " Cloud Messenger," 

is, next to the Sakuntala, perhaps the most celebrated of 
the poems of Kalidasa. Editions of this work were pub- 
lished at Calcutta in 1813, and in London in 1815, by 
Professor H. H.Wilson, with a translation in English verse, 
and notes and illustrations ; and again reprinted with a 
vocabulary, etc., by Professor Johnson, of Haileybury, in 
1843. It consists of only 116 strophes or stanzas. 

% 15. The Nalodaya 

is a poem in four cantos, comprising 220 slokas, or couplets, 
on the adventures of Nala and Damyanti. One edition of 
this is accompanied by the comments of six learned pan- 
dits, and designated the Subodhini. This work has been 



132 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

carefully edited by the late Eev. Dr. Yates, of Calcutta 
(1844) — accompanied by a metrical English translation, 
an essay on alliteration, a grammatical analysis, and an 
account of other similar works. In this singular poem 
rhyme and alliteration are combined in the terminations 
of the verses : for the three or four last syllables of each 
hemistich within the stanza are the same in sound, though 
different in sense. It is a series of puns on a pathetic sub- 
ject. It is supposed to have been written as a counterfeit 
of a short poem (of 22 stanzas) similarly constructed, but 
with less repetition of each rhyme ; and entitled, from the 
words of the challenge with which it concludes, Ghata- 
karpara ("an elephant's skull"). 

§ 16. The Vikramorvasi 

is a drama by the same elegant hand, doubtless, that wrote 
Sakuntala, tradition as well as internal evidences attesting 
the identity of authorship. "In each we see the same 
exquisite polish of style, the same light touch in painting 
scenery and character; and yet the dramas are 'like in 
difference/ and each has the separate personality, as well 
as the mutual Likeness, which characterises the twin off- 
spring of the same creating mind." 1 An edition of the 
text was printed a1 Eertford (1849), under the auspices of 
Professor M. Williams, and an English translation, in 
1851, by Professor E. B. Cowell. The text has also been 
edited in Germany by Professors Lenz and Bochtlingk; 

1 Preface to Oowell's translation. Both dramas are founded on ancient 
A t'i w meagre hints in the Afah&bh&rata appear to have furnished 
the firsl idea of the amplified Btory of the Vikramorvasi. The Pauranic ver- 
sion appears in the Hanrans'a. 



OTHEE EPIC POEMS. 133 

and Professor Wilson has given a translation, in elegant 
verse, in his " Specimens of the Theatre of the Hindus." 

§ 17. Miscellaneous. 

The other works attributed to Kalidasa are : (1) The 
Ritu-Sanhdra (or " assemblage of the seasons"), a de- 
scriptive poem, which was the first book ever printed in 
Sanskrit : Wilson gives sixteen verses of it in his edition 
of the Megha-Duta. (2) The Srusha-Bodha, a poem on 
Sanskrit prosody, founded on Pingala's aphorisms, or rules 
of prosody, especially- applicable to Prakrit poetry. (3) 
The Kumar a- Sambhava, or Birth of Kartikeya, the God of 
War, a long poem, originally in twenty -two books, but of 
which only fragments are now extant. Three or four 
other works have been attributed to him, but their au- 
thenticity is doubtful, viz., the Sringara-Tilaka, and Pras- 
nottara-Mala (two lyric poems), etc. 

§ 18. The other Epic Poets 

are Bharavi, Sri-Harsha, and Magna, who, with Kalidasa, 
have been dignified by the titles of Mahd-havya, or the great 
poets. Bharavi is the author of the Kirdtdrjunbja, which 
contains an account of the wars carried on by Arjuna 
against savage nations. Sri-Harsha's principal work is 
the Naishadha-Charita, or the Adventures of ISTala, Paja 
of Nishadha, in twenty-two cantos, which the Hindus rank 
as one of the six great poems regarded as the masterpieces 
of their profuse literature. 

Magna* s epic poem, entitled Bisupala Badha (or the 
death of Sisupala) is a work of much merit. An edition 
of it was published at Calcutta (1815), in royal 8vo. 



134 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 

Soma-Deva, another epic poet, is the author of the 
Vr'that-katha, which Sir William Jones compares with the 
poems of Ariosto, and of a poem on the death of Nanda 
and the accession of Chandragupta to the throne. 

§ 19. Fables and Ethical works (Nitikatha). 

The most celebrated work of this class is the Pancha- 
Tantra, so called from its being divided into five Tantras, 
or sections, but also known by the name of Panchopdkh- 
ydnam, or five (collections of) stories. It is the parent stock 
of the Hitopadesa, Pilpay's Fables, and other similar 
collections. Its authorship is attributed to Yishnu-Sarma, 
who is said to have extracted the essence of all the most 
celebrated works of this class. "Whoever reads this 
work/' it is said, " acquires the whole Mti-Sdstra, and 
and will never be overthrown by Indra himself." 

The oldest collection of fables and tales that is known, 
is thai which, goes under the name of Bidpai, or Pilpay ; 
and there is no book, except the Bible, which has been 
tran -laud into so many languages, though its origin is 
involved in mystery. The Arabic and Persian versions of 
this work are known by the name of the Kalila-wa-Dimna. 
The Sanskrit version is tin* celebrated Hitopadesa, or 
" Friendly [nstructor," which is divided into four books, 
entitled respectively, the Mitra-Ldbha (or Acquisition of 
Friends), the Mxtra-Bheda (or Separation of Friends), 
Sandhi (Peace), and Vigraha (War). This work is too 
well known by mere tyros in Sanskrit lore to require a 
further description here. 



APPENDIX I. 

BRIEF OUTLINE OF HINDU" MYTHOLOGY. 

As intimately connected with the literature of the Hindus, and 
tending greatly to its elucidation, the editor has deemed it de- 
sirable to subjoin a short account of their religious systems. For 
the following concise outline thereof he has been indebted chiefly 
to a valuable and interesting volume, entitled " India and the 
Hindoos," by the Rev. F. de "W". "Ward, formerly missionary at 
Madras, along with the larger work already referred to, by the 
Eev. W. Ward, of Serampore. 

The Yedas and S'astras, which claim to communicate all that 
need be known regarding the character of the Supreme, with the 
modes of performing acceptable worship, and of securing the 
divine blessing, teach the existence of one universal spirit, the 
fount and origin of all other beings, animate or inanimate, 
material or immaterial. To this supreme divinity is given the 
incommunicable name of Brahma : a noun, in the neuter gender, 
as indicating the negative mode of his existence : and to be 
distinguished from Brahma, the distinctive title of the first of 
the Hindu Triad. Of this great self-existent, independent, and 
eternal One, we are told in the S'astras that he resides in per- 
petual silence, takes no interest in the affairs of the universe, 
finding his happiness in undisturbed repose. They add, that 
though all spirit and without form, he is devoid of qualities 
(f^T3TWT)> without will (f*T^l?), without consciousness of his 
own existence, immersed in an abyss of unrelieved darkness and 
gloom. He is the One, say they, not gencricalhj, as possessed of a 
divine nature ; not hypostatically, as simple and uncompounded ; 



13G appendix I. 

not numerically, as the only actual deity, — but the sole entity, 
whether created or uncreated. "His oneness is so absolute, that 
it not only excludes the possibility of any other God, co-ordinate 
or subordinate, but excludes the possibility of aught else, human 
or angelic, material or immaterial." He is thus, as one well 
says, " an infinite negative, an infinite nothing" 

This is the supreme deity of the Hindus, mysterious, unap- 
proachable, indescribable, — in fact unintelligible. 

The Hindus are not Atheists in the sense of a chance creation 
of all beings and things. Their system, generally, is rather, in 
its original state, refined and sublimated Pantheism, all visible 
things being regarded as but manifestations of his (Brahma's) 
essence. With a verbal change, we may adopt the poet's cou- 
plet as descriptive of the Hindu faith, — 

" All arc but parts of this mysterious whole, 
"Whose body nature is, and Brahm the soul." 

The authors of the Hindu system, like the Greek philosophers, 
found a difficulty in conceiving how pure spirit could exert any 
energy, and especially an energy sufficient to create a world. 
When, therefore, the supreme Brahma willed to create the world, 
he drew forth from himself three hypostases, to which were given 
the names of Brahma, Vishnu, and S'iva. These constitute the 
celebrated Hindu Triad, of whom the sacred books declare that 
"They were originally united in one essence, and from one 
ace were derived, and that tne great One, became distinctly 
known as three Gods, being one person and three gods" 

Of each of these divine personages, we shall give a short, 
description. 

1. Brdhmd. 

This deity is OBually represented as a man with four faces, 
riding on a swan, and holding In one of his four hands a portion 
of the Vedasj in tin 1 Becond a po1 of Mater; while the third is 
raised upward to Indicate protection ; and the fourth declined 
downward, as bestowing a gilt. He is variously styled the 



OUTLINE OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. 137 

"self-existent" (^gp^) — though falsely, since he sprung from 
Brahma — the ''great father" (ftfTITF^*) the "Lord of creatures," 
(^ff^chTil), and, more appropriately, the " Creator " (^TS or M ^ \). 
He is reputed to have had originally four heads, having lost 
one, for a reason upon which his biographers are divided in 
opinion. That given in the Skanda Purana is as follows: — 
"The Linga (or sacred symbol) of S'iva fell, by the curse of 
a Rishi, from heaven, and increased in such height that it filled 
heaven and hell. In order to see it, Brahma, Vishnu, and the 
other gods, assembled, and in the midst of their wonder they 
called out, i Who can reach its extremity ? ' Vishnu descended 
to hell, and Brahma went upwards ; but neither search proved 
successful. Brahma, under the influence of shame, hired the 
cow, Kama, 1 and the tree, hetaka, 2 as false witnesses, and asserted 
three times that he had seen the end. The gods, knowing the 
falsehood of his declaration, deprived him, by their curse, of all 
worship, and S'iva cut off one of his heads." Be the cause what 
it may, there is but one temple to his honour erected in the land, 
and he receives less direct reverence than almost any of the 
celestials. 

2. Vishnu. 

This second of the Trimurtti, 3 or Triad, appears as a blue man 
wearing yellow garments, and riding on a skate (I!!?); 4 and 
holding in his four hands a war-club, a conch shell, a weapon 
called a chafer a (or discus), and a water lily. He has numerous 
other names, 5 as JSarayana, Viswambhara, Kesava, Govinda, Ma- 
dhava, etc., and is worshipped as the Pervader, or the personifica- 
tion of the preserving principle. 

1 Kama-dhenu, i.e. the cow which yields everything desired. 

2 The "Pandaxras odoratissimus." 

3 f^Hfr j Kt. " three forms." 

4 Or more generally on a Garuda (jpfgg) or garura, an animal half-bird 
and half man. 5 The Sastras say 1,000. 



138 APPENDIX I. 

The Puninas mention ten Avatars (descents or incarnations) 
of this God, nine of which have already taken place, viz., 
(1) As a fish (the Matsya avatara) ; (2) as a tortoise, or turtle 
(Kachliapa)\ (3) as a boar (Varaha) ; (4) as a inan-monster 
(Nara-Singha) ; (5) as a dwarf (Vdmana) ; (6) as a giant 
[Para&iHrdma) ; (7) as Rama (the hero of the Ramayana); 
(8) as Krishna ; (9) as Buddha. The tenth, which is still 
expected, will be (according to the S'astras) as a white horse, 
called the Kalki-avatdra. The first six are said to have taken 
place during the Satija Yuga, i.e., the first or golden age of 
the world's history, and of these there are no images made for 
worship. The following three occurred during the Treta and 
Dwapara Yugas, and the tenth is assigned to the present and last 
age, the Kali Yuga. 

Each incarnation was eifected for the accomplishment of some 
special purpose of more or less importance, and distinguished 
by the performance of wonderful exploits. Thus, in the first, 
Vishnu took the form of a fish (some say of one kind and some 
another) in order to bring up the Yedas from the bottom of 
the ocean, for the instruction of Brahma on his entering on 
the work of creation. In the Kachhapa, he assumed the form 
of a tortoise, in order to take upon his back the newly created 
earth, and secure its stability. The Hindus still believe that 
the earth is supported on the back of this tortoise or turtle. 
The Varaha happened at one of the periodical destructions of the 
world, when the earth sunk into the waters. Vishnu, the 
presi rver, appearing in the form of a boar, then descended into 
the waters, and, with his tusks, drew up the earth. The fourth 
and fifth avatars took place for the destruction of certain giants 
and tyrants. The sixth (Parasn '-Rama), for the overthrow and 
extinction of the Cshatriyas, who had become very corrupt and 
tyrannical. As Rama-ohandra, in the seventh, he conquered and 
lulled the giant Etavana, the king of Ceylon; and as Balarama, 
in the eighth, he destroyed Pralamba and other giants. The 

1 Paraiu ip the name of an instrument of war. 



OUTLINE OF HINDU" MYTHOLOGY. ]39 

ninth had for its object also the destruction of certain giants. 
For this purpose, in the form of Euddha, Vishnu produced 
among mankind, by his preaching, etc., a disposition to universal 
scepticism; that, having no longer any faith in the gods, the 
giants might cease to apply to them for those powers by which 
they had become such dreadful scourges to mankind. In this 
appearance, the object of Yishnu was accomplished by art, 
without the necessity of war ; but the dreadful alternative 
adopted affords a proof of how wretchedly the world would be 
governed if everything depended on the wisdom of man. 

Some idea of the moral character attributed to Vishnu may be 
gathered from the following incident recorded in the Sastras: — 
When the sea was churned to recover the ambrosia (Mount 
Mandra being the charming stick, a five-headed snake, Yaisuka, 
the rope, and the demons called Asuras, the workmen), Akabai 
and Lakshmi, two maiden sisters, arose at the same time. 
Yishnu, perceiving Lakshmi to be the more beautiful, wished to 
marry her; but not being able to accomplish the object until the 
elder was disposed of, he deceived the Eishi Uddakala as to 
Akabai' s beauty and excellences, which induced him to marry 
her, while Yishnu espoused the woman of his choice. 

The followers of this god, in particular, form one of the three- 
fold divisions of Hindu society, viz., the Vaishnavas, the S'aivas, 
and the S'aktas. 

3. S'iva. 

is the reputed destroyer of mankind, as Yishnu is the preserver. 
He is commonly represented as a silver-coloured man, with five 
heads and eight hands, in six of which are, severally, a skull, a 
deer, fire, an axe, a rosary, and an elephant rod; while the 
seventh is open, in the attitude of blessing, and the last in that 
of protecting. He has a third eye in his forehead with perpen- 
dicular corners, ear-rings of snakes, and a collar of skulls. At 
the end of each series of the four Yugas, S'iva submerges and 
destroys the earth, and then remodels it : his name being more 
properly the new-modeller or reproducer. One form in which 



140 APPENDIX I. 

this deity is worshipped is the linga (or lingam), answering to 
the phalli of the Greeks. It is exposed to view all the country 
over, and especially worshipped by the women. 

S'iva has an immense number of devotees, some of whom 
consider him superior to Brahma himself. One of his consorts is 
the sanguinary Kali, another (for he was a polygamist) was the 
more pacific Durga, of each of whom we shall give a short 
account. 

4. Kali 

is the Moloch of India. Her appearance indicates her character. 
She is represented as standing with one foot upon the chest of her 
husband, S'iva, whom she has thrown down in a fit of anger; her 
tongue, dyed with blood, is protruding from her mouth ; she is 
adorned with skulls, and the hands of her slain enemies are 
suspended from her girdle. The blood of a tiger delights her for 
ten years ; of a human being, for one thousand years. If any of 
her worshippers draw the blood from his own person, and offer 
it her, she will be in raptures of joy ; but if he cut out a piece of 
his own flesh for a burnt offering, her delight is beyond bounds. 
But, though thus sanguinary and malevolent, Kali is one of the 
favourite deities of the Hindus. The Swinging Festival, and 
other observances equally atrocious, are in her honour, being 
designed to avert her wrath, or secure her blessing. She is the 
eial friend of thieves and murderers, who invoke her blessing 
before entering upon their deeds of violence, fraud, or death. 

5. Durga 

combines the characteristics of Minerva, Pallas, and Juno. Her 
final name was lYuvati, but having, by a display of extra- 
ordinary valour, defeated a giant named Durga, she was thence- 
forth dignified with the name of her conquered foe. This 
monster La by Borne supposed to be a personification of vice, and 
Durgd of virtue, while the struggle typified the action and 
reaction of good and evil in the world. The festival in honour 



OUTLINE OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. 141 

of this goddess (the Durga Puja), observed in the month of 
September, has no superior for magnificence of entertainment 
and imposing appearance in the country. At the celebration of 
one festival, a wealthy Hindu has been known to give 80,0001bs. 
of sweetmeats, 80,000lbs. of sugar, 1,000 suits of cloth garments, 
1,000 suits of silk, and 1,000 offerings of rice, plantains, and other 
fruits. In the single city of Calcutta, it is supposed that half a 
million pounds sterling are annually expended on the Durga 
festival alone. 

6. Indra. 

He is called the king of Heaven, and his reign is said to 
continue one hundred years of the gods, after which another 
individual from among the gods, the giants, or men, by his own 
merit, raises himself to this eminence. The sacrifice of a horse 
{asvamedha) one hundred times will raise a person, it is said, to 
the rank of Indra. He is represented as a white man, sitting on 
an elephant, with a thunderbolt in his right hand, and a bow in 
his left. He has 1,000 eyes. 

The Puranas and other S'astras contain many stories regarding 
Indra, who is represented as particularly jealous lest any per- 
son should, by sacred austerities or sacrifices, out-do him in 
religious merit, and thus obtain his kingdom. To prevent 
these devotees from succeeding in their object, he generally sends 
a captivating female to draw away their minds, and thus luring 
them from their religious austerities, induce them to return to a 
life of sensual gratification. He was once guilty of stealing a 
horse consecrated by king Sagara, who was about to perform for 
the hundredth time the sacrifice of that animal. But that which 
entails the greatest infamy on the character of this god is his 
seducing the wife of his religious guide {guru) Gautama. This 
he effected (like Jupiter in the seduction of Alcmena) by assum- 
ing the appearance of her absent husband. Ahalya, the guru's 
wife, discovered her celestial seducer; but, through wantonness, 
and he being king of the gods, consented to his importunities. 
Gautama, however, met him as he was leaving the hermitage, 



142 APPENDIX I. 

and discovering the crime he had committed, pronounced upon 
him a curse by which the god instantly became a eunuch. 

Amaravati, the capital (or heaven) of Indra, was made by 
Yisvakarma, the architect of the gods, a son of Brahma. It is 
described as eight hundred miles in circumference, and forty 
miles high. Its pillars are composed of diamonds ; all its thrones, 
beds, etc., of pure gold, as also its palaces. It is surrounded by 
beauteous gardens and pleasure grounds, interspersed with pools, 
fountains, etc., while music and dancing, and every sort of 
festivity, entertain the celestial inhabitants. Indra is supposed to 
preside over the elements, and is by some considered the deified 
impersonation of the heavens. His annual festival takes place 
on the 14th of the month Bhadra (August-September). 

7. Surya — the Sun. 

This god is said to be the son of Kasyapa, the progenitor of 
gods and men. He is represented as a dark-red man, with three 
eyes and four arms. In two hands he holds the lotus, or water- 
lily, with another he signifies the bestowment of a blessing, and 
with the fourth the forbidding of fear. He sits on a red water- 
lily, while rays of glory issue from his body. The Brahmans 
consider him one of the greatest of the gods, resembling Brahma 
in glory. The celebrated incantation called the gdyatri, and 
many other forms of prayer and praise used in the daily cere- 
monies of the Brahmans, arc addressed to him. Every Sunday, 
but i specially on the first in the month Magna (January-February), 
\\\- worship is performed, especially by women, who beg of him 
the blessings of a son, riches, health, etc. 

Those who adopt this god ;is their particular guardian deity, 
are called Sauras. They never eat till they have worshipped the 
ran, and when it is entirely covered with clouds they fast. On 
Sundays (JRavibdr), other Hindus as well as they perform special 
worship to his idol, and sonic of them also fast. 

Surya has two wives, named Savarnd (i.e. "like," or "coloured," 
or "golden") and Chaya j'.e. "shade" or "shadow"). Savarna, 



OUTLINE OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. 143 

it is said, after her marriage to the sun, unable to bear the power 
of his rays, made an image of herself, and imparting life to it, 
named it Chaya, and left it with Surya. She then returned to 
her father, Visvakarma's house ; but on his refusing to receive her, 
she assumed the form of a mare and fled into the forest Dandaka. 
Surya went after her to his father-in-law's house, who received 
him with respect, but, unperceived, gave him a seat formed of 
different sharp weapons, by which he became divided into twelve 
round parts (the signs of the Zodiac ?). His rage was great, but 
he was pacified on learning that Yisvakarma had sent his daughter 
back to him. By the power of dhydna (meditation), Surya ascer- 
tained that Savarna had become a mare and gone to the forest. 
On which he assumed the form of a horse, joined her, and in these 
forms two children were born to them, viz., Aswini ("horse- 
born") and Kumara (" prince") who became physicians to the 
gods. 

There are no temples dedicated to Surya in Bengal. A race of 
kings, distinguished as the descendants of the sun, once reigned 
in India, of which dynasty Ikshvaku was the first king, and 
Rama the sixty -sixth. 

8. Ganesa 

is the elder son of S'iva and Parvati (alias Durga). With his 
elephant face, big belly, and four hands, 1 and sitting on a rat, he 
presents a strange and repulsive appearance. But for all this 
no deity is more often named than he. Being esteemed the 
ivork-perfecter, or one who can place or remove obstacles, he is 
always invoked at the commencement of every religious service, 
enterprise, or composition. Before undertaking a journey, writing 
a letter, studying a book, and the like, Ganesa is on the lips of 
the traveller or student. This eminent position was assigned him 

1 Holding, respectively, a shell, a chahra (or discus), a club, and a loins (or 
water-lily). Instead of two tusks, as elephants have, he has only one, the 
other having been torn out by Vishnu, when, on one occasion, lie wished to 
have an interview with S'iva, Ganesa, as door-keeper, refusing him admittance. 
Vishnu had assumed the form of Paras'u- llama. 



144 APPENDIX I. 

as a compensation for the strange head he wears, which was put 
upon his shoulders when he lost his own, in infancy, by a look 
of the celestial S'ani— the Hindu Saturn. 1 The goddess, seeing 
her child headless, was overwhelmed with grief, and would have 
destroyed S'ani, but Brahma prevented her, telling S'ani to bring 
the head of the first animal he should find lying with its head 
northwards. 2 He found an elephant in this position, cut off its 
head, and fixed it on Ganesa, who then assumed the shape he at 
present wears. Durga was but little soothed when she saw her 
son with an elephant's head ; but, to pacify her, Brahma said that, 
amongst the worship of all the gods, that of Ganesa should for 
ever have the preference. Shop-keepers and others paint the 
name or image of this god over the doors of their shops or houses, 
expecting from his favours protection and success. He is wor- 
shipped especially at the commencement of a wedding, as well as 
when the bride is presented to her bridegroom. Xo public 
festivals, however, in honour of Ganesa are held, nor any temples 
dedicated to him in Bengal, though stone images of the god are 
worshipped in the temples on the banks of the Ganges at Benares. 
Sir William Jones calls Ganesa the god of wisdom, referring, 
as a proof, to his having an elephant's head. The Hindus, how- 
ever, in general, consider the elephant a stupid animal; and to 
be called " as stupid as an elephant" is a bitter taunt. He 
corn aponds rather to the Roman Janus. 

9. Kurtilceya, 

the elder, and only other son of Durga, by S'iva, is the god of 
war. II'- i ; n presented sometimes with one, and at others with 

1 Do • n this occasion, to have cursed the gods, so that they have 

ever since been childless, except by criminal am. mis with females not their 
own v. 

-' Durga had laid her child to Bleep with its head to the north, which is 
forbidden by the Sustra. It is Buperstitiously believed that if a person Bleep 
with tiis head to the east he will be rich, if to the south he will have long life, 
if to the north he will die, and if to the west (except when on a journey) he 
will have misfortune. 



OUTLINE OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. 145 

six faces ; is of a yellow colour ; rides on a peacock, and holds in 
his right hand an arrow, and in his left a bow. The express 
object of his birth is said to have been the overthrow and de- 
struction of the giant Taraka, who, having by the performance of 
religious austerities obtained the special blessing of Brahma, 
afterwards oppressed both Brahmans and gods. Indra (the king 
of the celestials) then called a council in heaven, when the gods 
applied to Brahma, who declared that he could not reverse his 
blessing on Taraka, but that Kartikeya, who should be the son of 
S'iva, would destroy the giant. Durga, the daughter of Hima- 
laya, partly by the intervention of Kandarpa, the god of love, and 
partly by the power of religious austerities, prevailed on the 
ascetic S'iva to marry her, and Kartikeya was the first fruit of 
their union. 

On the last evening in the month Kartika (October-November), 
a clay image of this god is worshipped, and next day thrown 
into the water. These images are sometimes not less than 
twenty-five cubits high, so that the offerings have to be pre- 
sented at the end of a long bamboo to reach the mouth of the 
god. His image is also made and set up by the side of his 
mother, Durga, at the great festival of this goddess in the month 
Aswina (September-October), and in the month Chaitra (March- 
April), when each day the worship of the son is performed after 
that of his mother. 

There are no temples in Bengal, however, to this god, nor any 
images of him kept in the houses of the Hindus except during a 
festival. Women worship and make special vows to Kartikeya, 
in the hope of obtaining a male child. 

10. Sahrdmanmdn, 

who is likewise styled the Hindu Mars, seems to be merely 
another form of Kartikeya, and is regarded as the special guardian 
of the Brahmanical order. He is represented with six faces and 
twelve arms, riding on a peacock, and holding in his several 
hands a bow, an arrow, a conch, a discus, a sword, a rope, a 

10 



14G APPENDIX I. 

trident, a diamond weapon, fire, a dart, a drum, and a crescent 
shaped weapon. He is worshipped chiefly in the Madras 
Presidency. 

1 1 . Yama, 

called also Kala ("time"), Dharraa-raja ("the holy king"), 
Kritanta (" the destroyer"), Preta-rat (" the lord of the dead"), 
etc., is the Pluto of the Hindus. The name Yama itself means 
"restraint," "penance," or, according to "Ward, "he who takes 
out of the world." He is the judge of the dead. His image is 
that of a green man, with red garments and inflamed eyes, 
having a crown on his head, and a flower stuck in his hair, with 
a club in his right hand, and sitting on a buffalo. His dreadful 
teeth, grim aspect, and terrific shape, fill the inhabitants of the 
three worlds with dismay. Yama is said to hold a court, in 
which he presides as judge, being assisted by a person named 
Chitra-gupta, 1 who keeps an account of the actions of men. A 
number of officers are also attached to the court, who bring the 
dead to be judged. If the deceased persons have been wicked, 
Yama sends them to their particular hell ; if good, to some place 
of happiness. The poor Hindus, at the hour of death, sometimes 
fancy they see Yama's officers (Kritanta-duta) iu a frightful 
shape, coming to fetch them away, 2 Yama is said to reside at 
Vain.ihiya, on the south side of the earth. All souls, wherever 
the person die, are supposed to go to Yama in four hours and 
forty minutes, and a dead body cannot be buried till that time 
has elapsed. 

An annual festival is held iu honour of Yama on the second 
day of the moon's increase in the month Kartika (October- 
Nbvember), when an image of clay is made and worshipped with 
the usual ceremonies for one day, and thru thrown into the river. 

1 Thai is, "he who paints" (or writes tin- fate of men) "in secret." 
Th Purines teach thai after death the bou] becomes united to an aerial 
body, and passes to the seal of judgmenl to be tried by Yama. It, however, 
remains in this aerial vehicle till tie' Last S'raddha (funeral-rite) is performed, 

tw( l\> months after death, when it passes into happiness or misery, according 
to the sentence that may ha\e been passed upon it by Yama. 



OUTLINE OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. 147 

No bloody sacrifices are offered to this god. He is also wor- 
shipped at the commencement of other festivals as one of the ten 
guardian deities of the earth. Every day the Hindus offer water 
to Yama in the ceremony called tarpana. Some Hindus, reject- 
ing the worship of other gods, worship only Yama, alleging that, 
as their future destiny is to be determined by him only, they have 
nothing to fear from any besides him. 

"We learn from the Mahabharata, that, after Brahma had 
created the three worlds — heaven, earth, and patala — he recol- 
lected that a place for judgment and the punishment of the 
wicked was wanting. He, therefore, ordered Yisvakarma to 
prepare a superb palace for the purpose, the hall of judgment 
being surrounded by a river of boiling water, which each one, 
after death, is obliged to swim across. But the offering of a cow 
to a Brahman cools the river, and renders the passage easy. 

12. Agni (Fire). 

This god is represented as a red, corpulent man, with eyes, 
eye-brows, and hair of a tawny colour. He rides on a goat, wears 
a paitd l and a necklace of a certain fruit. Prom his body issue 
seven streams of glory, and in his right hand he holds a spear. 
He is the son of the sage Kasyapa and Aditi, called the mother 
of the gods. 

Agni is especially worshipped under different names, at the 
time of a burnt offering, when clarified butter (gin or ghritaj is 
presented to him. The gods are said to have two mouths, viz., 
those of the Brahman and of Agni (fire). As one of the guardian 
deities of the earth, he is worshipped at the commencement of 
every festival. 

At the full moon in the month Magna (January-February), 
when danger from fire is considerable, he is sometimes worshipped 
before the image of Bramha, for three consecutive days; and 

1 The Paild (a corruption of Tf^"^ "holy"), or Upavila, is the sacred 
thread worn hy the three first castes of the Hindus over the left shoulder and 
falliug on the right hip. 



148 APPENDIX I. 

when any particular work is to be done by the agency of fire, 
lie burning of bricks, etc., his worship is performed, or when 
a trial by ordeal is about to take place. Some Brahmans are 
distinguished by the name of Sdgniha) because they use sacred 
fire in all the ceremonies in which this element is to be used, 
from the time of birth to the burning of the body after death. 
Swaha, the daughter of Kasyapa, was married to Agni. His 
name is repeated at the end of every incantation used at a burnt 
offering. 

13. Pai 'ana (Wind). 

He is the god of the winds and messenger of the gods. His 
mother, Aditi, it is said, prayed to her husband that this son 
might be more powerful than Indra. Her request was granted ; 
but Indra hearing of this, entered the womb of Aditi, and cut 
the fectus, first into seven, and then each part into seven others. 
Thus Pavana assumed forty-nine forms 2 (the points of the 
compass). He is represented as a white man, sitting on a deer, 
with a flag on his right hand. 

Pavana has no separate public festival, neither image nor 
temple. As one of the ten guardian deities of the earth, he is 
worshipped, however, at the commencement of every festival. 
Water is also offered to him in the daily ceremonies of the 
Brdhmans; and whenever a goat is offered to any deity, a service 
is paid to him under the name of Ytiyu. He presides in the 
north-west, as Agni in the south-east region of the earth. 

14. Varum (the Ocean) 

is the god of tin; waters. His image is painted white, and he 
■ Mi a marine monster called Jlakara, with a rope 3 in his right 

1 Prom ^T " with " -f ^5rfr*T "fire." 

: The Iliinlus hare forty-nine, instead of thirty-two points; and the 
Puranas Live the above fable to acoonnl lor the number. 

"chain." This weapon, called pdsa ("QT^l) has this property, that 
whomsoever il catches it binds so Bast that lie can never got loose. All the 
rdkihataSf etc., Irani the use of this weapon. 



OUTLINE OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. 149 

hand. Varuna's name 1 is repeated daily in the service of the 
Brahmans ; but his image is never made for worship, nor has he 
any public service or temple. He is worshipped, however, as 
one of the guardian deities of the earth, and also by those who 
farm the lakes in Bengal before they go out a-fishing; and in 
times of drought people repeat his name and praises to obtain 
rain. It is common, at such seasons, for Brahmans to sit in 
crowds on the banks of the Granges, or any other river, and 
address their prayers to this god, receiving presents from rich 
natives for doing so. His heaven, called Varuna-loka, is 800 
miles in circumference, and was formed by Visvakarma, the 
divine architect. In the centre is a grand canal of pure water. 
Varuna, and his queen Varum, sit on a throne of diamonds, 
surrounded by Samudra (the sea), Gunga (the Ganges), and other 
river gods and goddesses, as well as other deities. Every means 
of sensual gratification is to be met with there. 

15. The Planets and other Heavenly Bodies. 

These are all regarded as the objects of divine worship by the 
Hindus, and are the subjects of adoration under various sym- 
oolical forms. Thus, Bavi, the sun, is represented by a figure 
painted red, holding in each hand a water-lily, and riding in a 
chariot drawn by seven yellow horses. As one of the planets, he 
is worshipped only at great festivals. He may be regarded as 
simply another form of Surya. Bavi, along with Soma, or 
Chandra (the moon), Mangala (Mars), Buddha (Mercury), Vri- 
haspati (Jupiter), Sukra (Venus), S'ani (Saturn), give names to 
the different days of the week among the Hindus (viz. Bavibar, 
Sombar, Mangalbar, etc.), and are respectively the special objects 
of worship on each of those days. The only other celestial di- 
vinities we need mention are — 

1 The name Yaruna signifies "he who (or that which) surrounds." From 
the root ^ or ^. 



150 APPENDIX I. 

16. ZalsJimi, 

the goddess of prosperity, who is said to have been obtained by 
Vishnu at the churning of the sea, and with whom, like Venus, 
the gods were all enamoured, especially S'iva. She is worshipped 
in every Hindu family four times a year. And, 

17. Saraswati, 

the goddess of learning, the daughter of Brahma, and wife of 
Vishnu. Every Hindu who is able to read and write celebrates 
her worship, especially on the 5th day of the moon in Magha 
(Jan.-Feb.). 



II.— OX THE INFERIOR CELESTIAL BEINGS. 

Intermediate, as it were, between gods and men, and either 
the enemies, or the companions and friends, of both, are certain 
beings which, occupying, as they do, an important place in the 
legends and poems of both the classical and more vulgar and 
modern Hindu writers, deserve a passing notice in connection 
with Sanskrit Literature. These arc, 

1. The Asuras, or Giants. 

They were the offspring of Kasyapa, the progenitor alike of 
gods and men, by his different wives. They bear a resemblance 
to the Titans of Grecian mythology, and stories of their wars 
with the gods abound in (he Puranas. Indra, Vishnu, Kartika, 
and Durg&are distinguished among the Hindu deities for their 
conflicts with these beings. As Jupiter was represented as 
aiming the thunderbolt in bis right hand against a giant under 
bis feet, bo Durga*, in her images, appears aiming the spear in 
her righi hand against an Asura under her feet. A story is told 
it Length, in the Biahdbhdrata, of the churning of a sea of milk 
by the gods and Asiuas. Mount Mandara was taken as the 



OUTLINE -OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. 151 

churning-stick, round which the serpent Vasuka was wrapped to 
whirl it with. The gods then took hold of the head, and the 
Asuras of the tail of the surpent, but Vishnu prevailed on the 
latter to change places with the gods. As the result of their 
churning, there arose from the sea, first, the elephant Airavata ; 
afterwards, in succession, the gem Kanstubha, the horse TTchaish- 
rava, the tree Parijata, many jewels, the goddess Lakshmi, and, 
lastly, poison. Full of alarm at this, the gods applied to S'iva, 
who, to save the world from destruction, drank up the poison, 
receiving no other injury than a blue mark on his throat, from which 
circumstance is derived one of his favourite epithets, Nilkanta. 
i.e. "the blue-throated." Then came up the water of immortality. 
The gods (330 millions in number) and the countless Asuras each 
claimed the boon; but while the latter went to bathe in the 
sacred stream, to prepare themselves for the holy draught, the 
gods drank up nearly the whole of the nectar. One Asura, 
however, contrived by trickery to get a little, and became im- 
mortal, but Yishnu cut off his head. Afterwards the immortalized 
head and trunk became the ascending and descending nodes, 
under the names of Eahu and Ketu. 



2. The Rdhhasas. 

Many stories, respecting the wars of the Eakshasas, or Canni- 
bal-giants, with the gods, are contained in the Puranas and other 
S'astras. They are represented as assuming, at pleasure, the 
different shapes of horses, tigers, buffaloes, etc., some having 
100 heads, and others as many arms. As soon as born, these 
giant-demons are said to arrive at maturity. They devour their 
enemies. The Eakshasas are all Brahmans, and are said to 
dwell in the south-west corner of the earth. Nairita, a Eakshas, 
is one of the guardian deities of the earth, presiding in the south 
west and in this character he is worshipped at all great festivals. 
He is represented as a black man in the posture of meditation 
adopted by the Brahmans, and having in his right hand a 
scimitar. One of the most celebrated of the Eakshasas, was 



# ■h^-'i- 



152 APPENDIX I. 

Ravana, the tyrant-ruler of Lanka (Ceylon), whom Kama 
Chandra (of the Th'iniayana) dethroned and destroyed. His 
brother, Kumbha-Karna, was a still more enormous monster, 
devouring thousands of cows, sheep, buffaloes, etc., at one meal, 
and washing them down with 4000 hogsheads of spirits. His 
house was 20 or 30 thousand miles long, and his bed the length 
of the house ! ! ! 

3. Celestial Dancers and Musicians. 

The Gandharvas and Kinnaras are the choristers of heaven, 
male and female ; the latter have horses' heads ! 

The Vidya-dharas are male and female dancers. The Apsaras 
are also female dancers, greatly celebrated for their beauty ; they 
have been frequently sent down to earth to captivate the minds 
of religious devotees, and entice them from those works of merit 
which were likely to procure them the thrones of the gods. 
Eight of the Apsaras are celebrated as beautiful beyond all 
others, viz., Urvasi (whence the title of Kalidasa's drama Vikra- 
inorvasi) Mcnaka, llambha, Pancha-chara, Trilottama, etc. 
These five are the mistresses of the gods, and keep houses of ill 
fame in Indra's heaven. "When any one of the gods visits the 
king of heaven, he generally spends some time with one or more 
of these courtezans. 

4. The jydyikds. 

These arc female companions of Durga, and are worshipped at 
the festivals of this goddess. Eight of them have a pre- 
eminence over the rest. The Tantra-sastras declare that these 
females visit the worshippers either as their wives or as their 
mothers, and show them how they may obtain heaven; or, as 
F8, bring them to any female they choose, and reveal what- 
they desire to know of tho present or future. He who 
wishes to obtain the company of a Niiyika must worship her 
thrice a day, and repeat her namo at night in a cemetery for 
7, 15, or 30 days. On the last night he must continue to repeat 



OUTLINE OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. 153 

her name till she appears to him, and asks what he wishes for. 
She remains with him during the night, and departs next morn- 
ing, leaving with him presents to a large amount, which, 
however, he must expend next day, or they will all evaporate. 
If the worshipper wishes to go to any place in the three worlds, 
the Nayika takes him there in a moment. If, after cohabiting 
with a Nayika, he cohabit with any other female, the Nayika 
immediately destroys him. 

5. The Yahshas 

are the servants of Kuvera, the god of riches, and fly through 
the world preserving the wealth of men. Kuvera is worshipped 
at the festival of Lakshmi, and at all other great festivals ; but 
he has no separate feast, image, or temple. The Eamayana 
relates that Kuvera, by prayer to Brahma, along with religious 
austerities, obtained Lanka (Ceylon), the very mire of whose 
streets is gold. Here he reigned till Rama dispossessed him. 
Brahma also gave him the chariot Pushpaka, which had the 
property of expansion and of going wherever the charioteer 
wished. From Lanka, Kuvera went to Mount Kailasa, where 
he is supposed still to remain. 

6. The Pisdchas 

are goblins, messengers of the gods, who guard the sacred 
places, the resorts of pilgrims; sixty thousand guard the 
Ganges from the approach of the profane. 

7. The other Servants of the Gods, 

of inferior order, are the Gudghakas, the Siddas, the Bhiitas, 
and the Charanas. Besides which, there are several orders 
of female attendants, especially on Durga and S'iva, as, the Yo- 
ginis, Dakinis, Kakinis, Sakinis, Bhutinis, and Pretinis. 



1 5 1 AITEXDIX I. 



III.— OX TEE AVATARAS AXD TERRESTRIAL DEITIES. 

Some of these are worshipped with more show than any of 
the celestial deities, while the records of their exploits constitute 
the principal themes of the more popular Hindu literature. 

1. Krishna. 

He was one of the incarnations of Vishnn, the object of 
which was the destruction of the kings S'isupala and Kansa, and 
a number of giants. His birth-place was Hathura. His father 
was Yasu-deva, a Kshatriya ; his mother Devaki. Kansa 
seeking to destroy him when an infant, his father fled to the 
Forest Yrinda-vana, and concealed him in the house of Xanda ; 
hence he is sometimes called the son of XTanda. 

The images of Krishna represent him as a black man, holding 
a flute to his mouth with both his hands, ; his mistress Radha 
standing on his left. Many stories are recorded of Krishna in 
the Puranas ; but his history and character are best known, both 
to Hindus and Europeans, from their being set forth so fully in 
the celebrated work — written in the Braj Bhaka (a dialect of the 
Hindi language) — the Prem Sagar, by S'ri Lallu Lall Kab, which 
lias been translated into English by Captain Hollings and Pro- 
r Eastwick. 

In his infancy he is said to have deprived a giantess of her 
breath, who had poisoned her breast before giving him to suck. 
Nanda's wife, one day, when looking into his mouth, had a view 
there of the three worlds, with Brahma, Vishnu, and S'iva 
Bitting nn their thrones. At eight years of age he took up 
Mount (lovardhana in his arms and held it as an umbrella over 
the heads of the villagers and their cattle during a dreadful 
Btorm, with whioh the angry king of heaven was overwhelming 
them ; lie created a number of cattle, and also of children, to re- 
those whioh Brahms' had stolen from V-rindavana; he 
1 a large hydra which had poisoned the waters of the 
Yamuna (Jamna)j he seduced the wife of A'yana-ghosha, a 



OUTLINE OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. 155 

Vaisya, and sported with 16,000 milkmaids in the wilderness of 
Vrinda. He next assumed four arms and destroyed Kansa, 
whose father he placed on the throne instead of him. After 
this he was engaged in various quarrels, and had to combat with 
many formidable enemies, which induced him to build a fort at 
Dwaraka in Guzerat, where he took up his abode and married 
two wives. He next joined the family of Yudhishthira in their 
war with the race of Duryodhana (the subject of the Mahabha- 
rata) ; and, lastly, destroyed S'isupala. He closed his life with 
an act worthy of such a character, by destroying his whole 
progeny, and was at length himself accidentally killed by an 
arrow, while sitting under a tree. 

It is very possible that, if any authentic Hindu history could 
be discovered, many of these facts would be found recorded in 
the life of a Hindu king of the name, which facts have been 
embellished and distorted by the Asiatic poets till they have 
elevated the hero into a god. 

The temples dedicated to Krishna are very numerous, and it is 
a scandalous fact, that the image of Eadha, his mistress, and not 
those of his wives, Eukmini and Satyabhama, always accom- 
panies that of Krishna. Pantomimic entertainments are fre- 
quently held, at which the lewd actions of this god are exhibited. 
Six parts out of ten of the whole Hindu population of Bengal 
are supposed to be disciples of this god in particular, and 
numerous festivals are annually kept in his honour. 

2. Gopdld 1 and Gqpmdtha. 2 

These are both images of Krishna in his childhood. In the 
former the infant god is represented as resting on one knee, and, 
with his right hand extended, craving sweetmeats from his 
mother. A celebrated image of Gopinatha is set up at A'gra- 
dwipa, where an annual festival is held in the month Chaitra. 
Multitudes of lewd women are always present at these festivals, 
and the most abominable indecencies are perpetrated. 

2 i. e. " The Lord of the Milk-maids." 



15 6 APPENDIX I. 

3. Jaggannatha 1 (vulg. "Juggemath"). 

This is another, and perhaps the most famous form of Krishna. 
The image has no legs, and only stumps of arms. The head and 
legs are very large. At the festivals, the Brahmans adorn him 
with silver or golden hands. 

Krishna having been accidentally killed by Angada, a hunter, 
he left the body to rot under a tree. Some pious persons, how- 
ever, collected the bones of Krishna and placed them in a box. 
There they remained till King Indra-dhumna (a great ascetic) 
was directed by Yishnu to form the image of Jaggannatha, and 
put into its belly these bones of Krishna. Yisvakarma (the 
architect of the gods) undertook to prepare it, on condition that 
he should be left undisturbed till its completion. The impatient 
king, however, after fifteen days, went to the spot ; on which Yisva- 
karma desisted from his work, and left the god without hands or 
feet. The King was much disconcerted, but on praying to 
Brahma, he promised to make the image famous in its present 
shape. Indra-dhumna then invited all the gods to be present at 
the setting up of this image. Brahma himself acted as high 
priest, and gave eyes and a soul to the god, which completely 
established the fame of Jaggannatha. This image is said to lie 
in a pool, near the famous temple at Jaggannatha-kshetra (i.e. 
Jaggan&th's field), near the town of Puri in Orissa, commonly 
called by the English, Juggernath's Pagoda. 

There are many other temples to Jaggannatha in Bengal and 
other part of India, besides that in Orissa, built by rich men as 
works of merit, and endowed with lands, villages, and money, at 
which the worship of the god is performed every morning and 
evening. 

There are two great annual festivals in honour of the god, viz., 
the Sii,'m-\,itia - in the month Jyaistha (May-June) and the 
Jiath-y.itr.t ■ in the following month, A'sarha. These arc every- 
where most numerously attended) but especially those celebrated 

1 i.r. "The Lord of the World." 2 Orjfctra. 



OUTLINE OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. 157 

at the great temple at Puri. Thither pilgrims from the remotest 
corners of India flock to pay their adoration at the unhallowed 
shrine. Between two and three thousand persons, it is computed, 
used to lose their lives on the annual pilgrimages to this temple, 
and not less than 200,000 worshippers were present at the fes- 
tivals, from which the Brahmans draw an immense revenue. 
Since the withdrawment of the large annual grant, however, 
which the British Christian Government of India, till very 
recently, made to the Orissa Temple, the numbers attending 
these festivals have very greatly diminished. All the land within 
twenty miles round the " Pagoda" is considered holy; but the 
most sacred spot is an area of about 650 feet square, which 
contains fifty temples, the most conspicuous of which is a lofty 
tower, about 184 feet in height, and about 28 feet square inside, 
in which the idol, with his brother Bala-Bama, and his sister 
Subhadra, is lodged. 

At the Snan-yatra (or bathing festival) the god is bathed by 
pouring water on his head during the reading of incantations. 
At the Bath-yatra (or car festival) the carriage, containing the 
three images (which has sixteen wheels and two wooden horses) 
is drawn by the devotees, by means of a hawser, for some distance, 
On this occasion many cast themselves beneath the ponderous 
wheels and are crushed to death. 



4. Rama, 

that is, Bama-Chandra — and who must not be confounded with 
either Bala-Bama, the brother of Jaggannatha {i.e. Krishna), 
or with Parasu-Bama, another of the incarnations of Vishnu — 
is the hero of the celebrated Epic of Valrniki, the Bamayana. 
But as a brief outline of that work, containing a history of the- 
adventures of this deified hero, has already been given in the 
body of this work, it will be unnecessary to add much further 
under the present head. 

The image of Bam a is painted green. He is represented as 
sitting on a throne, or on Hanuman, the monkey, with a crown 



158 APPENDIX I. 

on his head. He holds in one hand a bow, in the other an 
arrow, and has a bundle of arrows slung at his back. 

The birth of llama forms the seventh of the Hindu incarna- 
tions. On the birth-day of this god the Hindu merchants begin 
their new year's accounts, i.e. on the ninth day of the increase 
of the moon in Chaitra (March- April.) At the time of death 
many Hindus write the name of Kama on the breast and fore- 
head of the dying person, with earth taken from the banks of 
the Ganges; and as they follow the corpse to the Smascin, or 
L )lace of burning, they repeat the formula, Ram nam haclidta Jiai, 
(i.e., "the name of Earn saves") believing that, through the 
efficacy of this name, the deceased, instead of being dragged 
to Yama to be judged, will immediately ascend to heaven. The 
tilalc, or mark, put on the forehead by the disciples of Eama 
resembles a trident. The Eamahuts, a class of mendicants, im- 
press likewise, on different parts of their bodies, Eama's name 
and the figure of his foot. 

The worship paid to him is much the same as that to Krishna. 
An annual festival is held on his birth-day. The Dolyatra (or 
Bwinging festival) is also celebrated on that day, and kept as a 
, hen his three brothers, Bharata, Lakshmana, and Sha- 
tranga, tire also worshipped. Many small temples are erected to 
his honour. 

5. Vihakarma 

was the son of Brahma, and the architect of the gods. His 
is painted white, has three eyes, holds a club in his right 
hand, wears a crown, a necklace of gold, and rings on his 
wrists. He presides over the arts, manufactures, etc. 

Tlu' worship of Vis'vakarma is celebrated four times a year 
by all artificers, to obtain success in their business. The cere- 
monies may be performed either by night or by day, before any 
implement of trade. On these occasions the worshippers make 
a feasl 1') their neighbours on as liberal a scale as their means 
will allow. 



OUTLIKE OF HINDI/ MYTHOLOGY. 159 

6. Kdma l -deva — the Indian Cupid. 

He was the son of Brahma, and is represented as a beautiful 
youth, holding in his hand a bow and arrow of flowers. He is 
always supposed to be accompanied by his wife Eati, 2 by spring 
personified, the cuckoo, the humming bee, and gentle breezes ; 
and is represented as wandering through the three worlds. The 
image of this god is never made in Bengal ; but on the 13th day 
of the moon's increase in Chaitra, an annual festival is held, 
when the ceremonies are performed before the Salgrama, an 
ammonite stone, considered as the emblem of Vishnu. "When a 
bride leaves her father's house to go to her husband for the first 
time, petitions are addressed to this god for children, and for 
happiness in the married state. 



IV.— PRINCIPAL FEMALE TERRESTRIAL DEITIES. 

1. Sita, 

the daughter of Janaka, Xing of Mithila, and the wife of 
Rama, who is always worshipped along with her husband. She 
is represented as a yellow woman, covered with jewels. 

2. Rddhd, 

who was the wife of A'yana-ghosha, a cow-herd of Gokula, 
where Krishna resided in his youth. Through Yaraf, a procuress, 
he seduced Radha, and took her to a forest, near the Yamuna, 
where they continued till Krishna left her to make war against 
Kansa. 

3. Rukmini and Satya-hhamd. 

These were the most distinguished wives of Krishna. He 
had six others, but is always associated with his mistress, 
Radha, and not with his lawful wives. 

1 «GTT "desire," "love." 2 "^f^ "passion." 



1G0 APPENDIX I. 

4. Sulhadrd 

was the sister of Jaggamitha, and is always worshipped with 
her brother, and placed with him in his temples. 



V.— DEIFIED MYERS. 

Among the objects of Hindu worship, certain rivers occupied 
a very important place, both as male and female divinities — (Nada 
and Nadi.) The worship of these rivers is performed at certain 
auspicious seasons, as declared in the S'astra, and at some of the 
great festivals. Certain particular parts of these rivers are held 
peculiarly sacred, and draw great numbers of devotees : as the 
sources of the Ganges ; the union of the Ganges, the Yamuna 
and the Saras wati, at Prayaga (Allahabad) ; the branching of 
this united river into three streams at Triveni, the embouchure 
of the Ganges, etc. These waters are used for food, medicine, 
bathing, religious ceremonies, etc.; and, formerly, when a 
Hindu king was crowned, they were poured upon his head as a 
part of the ceremonial of his consecration. 

1. Gangd {the Ganges)-. 

'lii is goddess is represented as a white woman, wearing a 
crown, sitting on the sea animal makwa, and having in her 
right hand a lotus, and in her left the lute. She is called the 
daughter of Himavat, though some Puranas declare that she was 
produced from the sweat of Vishnu's foot, which Brahmd caught 
and preserved in his alms' dish. 

The Etamayana, Mahahharata, and Skanda-Purana give long 
accounts of the descent of Ganga from heaven. When Ganga 
• from h< aven, the gods, conscious that their sins also 
needed washing away, and of the peculiar efficacy of its waters 
for the purpose, petitioned Brahma on the subject, who soothed 
them by promising that Gangd should remain in heaven and 
<l to the earth also. The goddess, therefore, was called 



OUTLINE OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. 161 

Mandakim in heaven, and Ganga on earth, and Bhogavati in 
pdtdla. The Hindus particularly choose the banks of this river 
for their worship, as the merit of works performed here, accord- 
ing to the S'astras, is greatly augmented. In the months of 
Yaisaka, Jyaishtha, Kartika, and Magna, the merit is greater 
than in other months ; as at the full moon in these months it is 
still more enhanced. The Puranas declare that the sight, the 
name, or the touch of Ganga, takes away all sin, however 
heinous ; that thinking of Ganga, at a distance, is sufficient to 
remove the taint of sin ; but bathing in it has blessings surpass- 
ing all imagination. 

The Hindus are, consequently, very anxious to die in sight of 
the Ganges, that their sins may be washed away at the last 
moments. A person in his last agonies is frequently dragged 
from his bed and friends, and carried, in the hottest or the coldest 
weather, from whatever distance, to the river side, where he 
lies, if a poor man, without covering day and night till he 
expires. "With the pangs of death upon him he is placed up to 
the middle in the water and drenched with it. Leaves of the 
tulasi plant are also put into his mouth, while his relations call 
upon him to repeat, and repeat for him, the names of Rama, 
Hari, ISTarayana, Brahma, Ganga, etc. For a person to die in 
the house, and not on the river side, is considered, not only a 
great misfortune, but a cause of infamy. Dead bodies are 
brought by relations to be burnt near the river ; and when they 
cannot bring the whole body, it is not uncommon to bring a 
single bone and throw it into the river, in the hope that it will 
help to save the soul of the deceased. Some persons even drown 
themselves in the Ganges, in the sure and certain hope of 
ascension to heaven. 

On account of the veneration in which the water of this 
river is held, it is used in English Courts of Justice to swear 
upon, as the Koran in the case of the Musalmans and the Bible 
in that of Christians ; but many respectable Hindus refuse to be 
sworn in this way, alleging that the S'astras forbid them in these 
cases to touch the water of the Ganges ; and some have even 

11 



162 APPENDIX I. 

refused to contest causes, in which large sums were at stake, 
from fear of being obliged to take this oath. 

2. Other Deified Rivers. 

Many of the Indian rivers, besides the Ganges, are esteemed 
sacred, and receive religious worship, though none to such an 
extent as it. We may mention especially the Brahmaputtra, 
Godavari, Narmada (or Narbada), and the Yaitarani (in Orissa), 
the bathing in which, at certain stated seasons, is esteemed an 
act of great religious merit. 



VI.— OTHER OBJECTS OF DIVINE WORSHIP. 

But not only are certain rivers esteemed holy and deified 
by the Hindus; numerous animals, plants, and even stones, etc., 
are held in reverence by them, and receive divine honours; 
especially (among animals) 

1. The Cow. 

Brahma, it is said, created Brahmans and the cow at the 
same time; the former to read the formulas, and the latter 
to afford milk, and hence ghi (clarified butter) for the burnt 
oil dings. The gods, by partaking of the burnt-offerings, are 
said to enjoy exquisite pleasure, and men, by eating ghi, destroy 
their sins. The cow is called the mother of the gods, and is 
declared by Brahma to be a proper object of worship. 

2. The Monkey. 

The black-faced monkey Hanuman, the son of Pavana, by 
Anjana, a female monkey, is believed to be an incarnation of 
Siva. He is especially worshipped on their birth-days by 
Hindus, in order to obtain long life. In some temples his 
Image is set up alone, and in others with that of Kama and 
Si!;i, and worshipped daily; the worship of llama being always 
preceded by a few ceremonies in honour of Hanuman. 



OUTLINE OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. 163 

3. The Bog. 

Though mentioned in the Mahabharata as an unclean animal, 
yet, as carrying Kala Bhairava, a form of S'iva, the dog, too, re- 
ceives worship along with his master. 

4. The S'rigdla 

(Shakal or "jackal") is especially adored by all the worship- 
pers of Durga, this goddess having assumed the form of that 
animal when she carried the child Krishna over the Yamuna in 
his flight from king Kansa. 

5. The Garuda (or Garura) 

is a fabulous animal, with the head and wings of a bird, and the 
body of a man. He is the carrier of Vishnu, and was the 
offspring of Kasyapa (progenitor of gods and men), by his wife 
Vinata. He is worshipped at the great festivals before the 
images of Vishnu. 

6. Aruna, 

the elder brother of Garuda, is the charioteer of Surya, and 
worshipped with his master. His image is that of a man 
without thighs. 

7. The S'ankara-chilla, 

or "eagle of Coromandel" — commonly called the Brahmani kite — 
is considered as an incarnation of Durga, and therefore worship- 
ped by the Hindus, who bow to it whenever it passes them. 

8. The Khanjana, 

or water-wag-tail, is esteemed as a form of S'iva, on account of 
the mark on its throat, supposed to resemble the sacred Salgrdma. 

9. The Peacock, the Goose,. and the Owl 

are worshipped at the festivals of Kartika, Brahma, and Lakshmi 
respectively. 



164 APPENDIX I. 

10. Fishes worshipped. 

Vishnu having been incarnate in the form of a fish, is wor- 
shipped under that image on certain occasions. And at the 
festivals in honour of Ganga, the fishes of that river are the 
objects of worship too. The Ilisha fish is specially worshipped 
in the Padma river, at the time of its first periodical arrival. 

11. Trees. 

Certain trees are worshipped as the forms of particular gods, 1 
and planted near the houses of Hindus for this purpose : but 
the most sacred of plants is the Tulas'i. 2 They have no public 
festival in honour of it, but occasionally prostrate themselves 
before it, repeating a form of prayer or praise. They have great 
faith also in the power of its leaves to cure diseases, and for ex- 
pelling the poison of serpents. The Vishnu Purana tells us that 
Tulasi was originally a devout female, who, wishing to become 
the wife of Vishnu, was changed by Lakshmi (his wife) into the 
plant : but Vishnu promised to assume the form of the Salgrama 
and always to continue near her. 

12. The Salagrama* stone, 

a species of ammonite, is held peculiarly sacred by Hindus, on 
account of the circumstance just mentioned, or because of a dif- 
ferent version of its origin given in the S'ri Bhagavata, where it 
is stated that Vishnu on a certain occasion became assimilated 
with mount (Jandaki, in Nepal (from which the stone is brought), 
and afterwards commanded (hat the stones of that mountain should 
be worshipped as representatives of himself. The Salagrama is a 
black, hollow stone, nearly round, and about the size of a watch. 
2000 mpees are sometimes given for a singlo stone. 

1 The Aiwattha ("Ficus religiose ") and the Vata (" Ficus Indica," or 
battydn tic.) arc worshipped as representatives of Vishnu; and the Vilva 
(" JEple mamelos," or lui tree) as that of S'iva. 

2 Holy basil ('* Ocyniuin sanctum ") ; rulgo " toolscc." 

;t Or vuhjo " Shalgram," the ostites or eagle stone. 



165 



APPENDIX II, 



ON THE HINDI/ CASTES AND EELIGIOHS SECTS. 

Such frequent allusion is made in all Sanskrit works to the 
Castes and Religious Sects of the Hindus, that the editor has 
deemed it advisable to append a few remarks on each of these 
subjects. 

I.— OF THE FOUR CASTES. 

The word caste, a corruption of the Portuguese casta ("a 
breed"), is a term which has been adopted to denote the dif- 
ferent divisions of Hindu society. It corresponds to the Sanskrit 
and Hindi terms Jdti (*rrf?|) or Jut (^TTcf), meaning " birth," or 
" race," and Varna (^0"), or varn (^Uj), or bar an («p^«f), denoting 
" colour," or "tribe." The distinction of Hindus into castes is 
nowhere referred to in the early Yedic writings, and is evidently 
the invention of the Brahmans of a comparatively later period. 
The four great castes are the Brahmans, 1 the Kshatriyas, 2 the 
Vaisyas, z and the S'udras, 4, but each of these includes many sub- 
divisions. 

1 From "^f " to increase," or " be great ; " incarnations, as it were, of 
Brahma., the great first cause. 

2 From f^T "wasting," " destruction," + "^T " to preserve," i.e., he who 
saves the oppressed. 

3 From T^ni " to enter," i.e., he who enters fields (Wilson), or on business 
(Ward). 

4 From "^^ " to purify " (Wilson), or from 5p^ "to go to," or " take 
refuge in," viz., the Brahman (Ward). 



166 APPENDIX II. 

The Sama Veda and the Puranas affirm that the Brahmans 
were produced from the mouth of Brahma at the same time that 
the Vedas dropped from it (and hence, perhaps, the same word 
fc(^[5^ nom. W^n, means either " Brahma," a "Brahman," or 
" scripture knowledge," i.e., the Veda), indicating thereby that 
their position in the community was to be pre-eminent in sacred- 
ness and honour, and that their duties were to concern religious 
doctrine and ceremony. The Kshatriyas, the same authorities 
tell us, sprang from the arm of the Creator, their duty being to 
protect the earth, the cattle, and Brahmans. The Vaisyas, again, 
had their origin in the thighs of the Supreme, and have as their 
assigned vocation to provide the necessaries of life by agriculture 
and trade; while, lastly, the Sudras were the offspring of the 
feet of the deity, as denoting the servile offices and pursuits to 
which they were to devote themselves. 

In addition, however, to these Castes, there are the Pdridrs 1 — 
the excommunicated — those who are esteemed the outcasts of 
society, the refuse of mankind, the men of infamy and degrada- 
tion, with whom the lowest of any of the castes will have no 
intercourse, being subjected to ignominy and subjection for ever. 

The Smritis assign to Brahmans the offering of sacrifices, the 
offices of the priesthood, the study of the Vedas and explaining 
of the Sastras (all of which are forbidden to the other castes), 
the giving of alms, and the receiving of presents. Such is their 
exalted position, that to injure a Brahman is the most unpardonable 
offence. Whatever part of the body was used in harming one of 
the privileged class was at once to be removed ; while to do a 
beneficent act to this deified personage would atone for almost 
any sin, and secure the highest commendation and merit. The 
wearing of the pa itd, or sacred thread (a corruption of pavitra 
(trf^"^ " holy " ), is one of the privileges and marks of a Brahman, 
but not peculiarly so, as those of the Kshatriya and Vaisya castes 
likewise share the honour, the only distinction being the length, 

1 "Or IViriabs, as often ipelt. Probably, tbc editor supposes, a corruption 
of the Sanskrit Paribara (^rf^Hj, "disrespect," " an objectionable thing," 
or of Paribarya (MiM?!^) " that sbould be avoided." 



HINDIT CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 167 

or numbers of plies, of the thread. It is worn over the left 
shoulder, next the skin, and extending half way down the right 
thigh. The investiture generally takes place among the Brahmans 
at about eight years of age, among the Kshatriyas at eleven, and 
among the Yaisyas at twelve, and must, in any case, be performed 
before fifteen. The ceremony is considered the " second birth" 
of the Hindu (whence the term " twice born" applied especially 
to the Brahmans), and a boy cannot be married till it takes 
place. » 

Kings, governors, and all intrusted with civil and military 
affairs, in general belong to the Kshatriya caste; while the 
Vaisyas are properly the farmers and merchants of the land. Of 
late years, however, Brahmans are often to be met with occupying 
all these situations, as well as those which more peculiarly belong 
to them. 

There has been a wonderful lowering of Brahmanical pride 
and dignity since the conquest of the country by Europeans. 
While thousands are still attached to the temples, and subsist on 
the revenues of ecclesiastical lands, great numbers are employed 
in courts of justice, as clerks, interpreters, etc., or, as pandits, in 
assisting foreigners in the study of the languages, and many also 
are to be met with as merchants, accountants, and even as 
farmers and soldiers. But still, as a class, they stand, by uni- 
versal acknowledgment, the first in Hindu society. 

The question has often been asked — Is Caste a civil or religious 
institution? Practically, at any rate, it is both, but eminently 
the latter. The distinctions it establishes are of divine decree, 
and the subjects of sacred record. Its effects upon all social 
relations are immediate and direct; but without the religious 
element it could not have retained its vitality so long, and 
produced such results as we now witness. 

Innumerable instances of the power of caste prejudices and 
laws might be quoted. We shall give only two. On one 
occasion, a Sipahi (sepoy, or native soldier) of high caste, falling 
down in a faint, the military surgeon ordered one of the Pariah 
attendants of the hospital to throw some water on him, in conse- 



168 APPENDIX II. 

qucnce of which none of his class would afterwards associate with 
him, because he had thereby forfeited the privileges of his caste. 
The result was that soon after he put the muzzle of a musket to 
his head and blew out his brains. — Several buildings were on fire 
at one time, at Madras, and threatened a general conflagration 
of the city. There were several wells near at hand, but the 
Brahmans forbade the use of water, lest a person of lower caste 
than themselves should approach, and thus pollute them. 

If a Brahman breaks caste, it may be regained^by him, but at 
enormous expense, and by the performance of the most disgusting 
ceremonials and penances. These depend, however, very much 
on the rank and wealth of the out-caste. From twenty to thirty 
thousand pounds have again and again been paid in order to 
obtain restoration to Erahmanic caste. And often, of course, it 
is quite impracticable. 



II.— OF THE RELIGIOUS SECTS. 1 

There are five great sects, esteemed orthodox, to one or other 
of which every Hindu belongs, unless he is a professed dissenter. 
These are the Vaishnava, the Saiva, the S'akta, the Saura, and 
napatya. Of these, however, only the three first are now 
popular, prevailing, respectively, in the north-west (with Hattra 
and^Lueknow as centres) in and about Benares, and in Bengal. 2 
These scots were probably originally defined by Sankara A'charya 
about eight or nine centuries ago. This great reformer, after 
overthrowing all the sects he deemed heretical, allowed his fol- 
lowers to be divided into the live modern sects above specified. 

The worshippers of Vishnu, S'iva, and S'akti (i.e , Devi, alias 
Parvati), viewed as the adherents of the respective sects thence 

' abridged from Prof ll. n. Wilson's Learned "Sketch of the Religious 
of the Hindus," in vols, wi. ami wii. of the "Asiatic Researches." 

- The women, however, all over the north-west, as well as in the more 
southern and easterly provinces, arc devoted to the worship of Devi (the 
■peciaJ object of iSakta adoration), and her temples ahound in all the rural 
districts. 



HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 169 

named, 1 are not to be confounded with the orthodox adorers of 
those divinities. Few Brahmans of learning, if they have any 
religion at all, will acknowledge themselves to belong to any of 
the popular divisions of the Hindu faith, although, as a matter of 
simple preference, they more especially worship some individual 
deity, as their Ishta (or chosen) Devata. They refer to the 
Vedas, Dharma S'astras, Puranas, and Tantras, as the only ritual 
they recognize, and regard all practices not derived from those 
sources as irregular and profane. On the other hand, many of 
the sects seem to have originated, in a great measure, out of 
opposition to the Brahmanical order. Teachers and disciples are 
chosen from any class, and the distinction of castes is, in a great 
measure, sunk in the new one of similarity of schism. The 
ascetics and mendicants also, in many instances, affect to treat 
the Brahmans with great contempt, and this is generally repaid 
by them with interest. Most of the followers even of the sects, 
however, pay the ordinary deference to the Brahmanical order. 

Most of the religious sects comprise two classes of individuals, 
which may be called clerical and lay. The bulk of the votaries 
are generally, but not always, of the latter order, whilst the 
clerical class are sometimes monastic, sometimes secular. Often 
the Gosdins (or religious preceptors) are men of business and 
family. The preference, however, is usually given to teachers 
of an ascetic, or ccenobitic life, whose pious meditations are not 
distracted by the affections of kindred, or the cares of the world; 
the doctrine that introduced similar unsocial institutions into the 
Christian Church, in the fourth century, being still triumphantly 
prevalent in the east, the land of its nativity. 

Of the ccenobitic members of the different communities, most 
pursue an erratic and mendicant life. They have, however, their 
fixed rallying points, and are sure of finding every here and there 
establishments of their own, or some friendly fraternity, where 
they are, for a reasonably moderate period, lodged and fed. 



1 Of the other two sects specified above, the Saura is named from Surya 
(the sun) and the Ganapatya, from Ganapati (or Ganpat, in yulgur Hindi) 
an epithet of Ganes'a. 



170 APPENDIX II. 

/ 
When old and infirm, they settle down in some previously existing 
Math, or establish one of their own. 

The Maths, Asthals, or Akdras, as the monastic residences are 
called, are scattered over the whole country. They vary in 
structure and size, according to the property or wealth of the 
owners ; but they generally comprehend a set of huts or chambers 
for the Mahant, or superior, and his permanent pupils ; a temple, 
sacred to the deity whom they worship, or the Samddhi, or shrine 
of the founder of the sect, or some eminent teacher; and a 
Dharma S'dld, one or more sheds or buildings for the accommoda- 
tion of the mendicants or travellers who may visit the Math. 
Ingress and egress is free to all : indeed a restraint upon personal 
liberty, as in the monasteries and convents of the Christian Church, 
seems never to have entered into the conception of any of the 
religious legislators of the Hindus. The number of resident 
chelas, or disciples, under the control of a Mahant, varies from 
three or four to thirty or forty, but there are always, besides, a 
number of vagrant or out members of the community. The 
Mahant is usually selected from among the senior or more pro- 
ficient chelas. 



(a.) Divisions and Doctrines of the Vaishnava Sects. 1 

Of the Vaishnavas, Professor Wilson enumerates upwards of 
twenty Sampraddyas, or sects, each of which he treats of at 
considerable length. Of these, however, there are but four, 
which, being generally regarded as the principal and most 
popular, need here be particularly described. These are the 
Ramannjls, the R&manandis, the Kahfr Panthfs, and the Khakis. 

1. Of the K'ri. (i.e. Lahhmi) Sampraddyas or Rdmdnujas. 
This sect was founded about the middle of the 12th century 

1 Thia account <1<>.s not refer to tho strictly orthodox worshippers of Vishnu, 
Inn t<. the sectaries and dissenters who are not entirely guided by the Vedas, 
S BStras, ami Parana*, but by curtain parts of them only. 



HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 171 

by the Vaishnava reformer Bamanuja Acharya. 1 He was a 
native of Perambar, in southern India, and spent the early part 
of his life at Kanchi, or Conjeveram, where, after many years of 
study, he first promulgated his peculiar doctrines. He after- 
wards resided at S'ri Eanga, on the Kaverf, and there composed 
his principal works. He then visited various parts of India, 
disputing with the professors of different creeds, and reclaiming 
various shrines then in possession of the S'aivas for the wor- 
shippers of Vishnu, particularly the celebrated temple of Tripeti. 
Being afterwards persecuted by a S'aiva king in those parts, he 
found a refuge for some years in the Mysore country, but finally, 
on the death of his persecutor, returned to S'ri Banga, where he 
ended his days. The establishments of the Bainanujas are 
numerous in the Dakhin (or Deccan) still, and the same country 
contains the site of the Gadd'i (the pillow or seat) of the primitive 
teacher, his spiritual throne, in fact, to which his disciples are 
successively elevated. This circumstance gives a superiority to 
the A'charyas of the south over those of the north, into which they 
are at present divided. 

Most of the Vaishnavas follow the doctrines of the Eamanujas, 
the chief tenet of whom is the assertion that Vishnu is Brahma : 
that he was before all worlds, and was the cause and creator of 
all. Though they maintain that Vishnu and the universe are 
one, yet, in opposition to the Vedanta doctrines, they deny that 
the deity is void of form or quality, and regard him as endowed 
with all good qualities, and with a two-fold form — the supreme 
spirit {Paramdtma), or cause, and the gross one, or effect, i.e., 
the universe or matter. The doctrine is hence called the 
Visishthddwaita, or doctrine of unity with attributes. In these 
assertions they are followed by most of the Vaishnava sects. 
Creation originated in the wish of Vishnu (who was alone, 
without a second) to multiply himself. He said, "I will become 
many," and he was individually embodied as visible and aetherial 

1 His history is recorded in various legendary tracts and traditionary narra- 
tives, much of it of the most fabulous description. Thus, one work represents 
him as an incarnation of the serpent Sesha, his chief companions and disciples 
being the discus, mace, and lotus, and other insignia of Vishnu. 



172 APPENDIX II. 

light. After that, as a ball of clay may be moulded into various 
forms, so the grosser substances of the deity became manifest in 
the elements and their combinations. The forms into which the 
divine matter is thus divided, are pervaded by a portion of the 
same vitality which belongs to the great cause of all, but which 
is distinct from his spiritual or astherial essence. Here then, 
again, the Ramanujas oppose the Yedantikas, who identify the 
Paramdtmd and Jivdlmd, or aetherial and vital spirit, This 
vitality, though endlessly diffusible, is imperishable and eternal, 
and the matter of the universe, as being the same in substance 
with the Supreme Being, is alike without beginning or end. 
Purmhottama, or Narayana, having created man and animals 
through the instrumentality of those subordinate agents whom 
he willed into existence for that purpose, still retained the 
supreme authority of the universe : so that the Ramanujas assert 
three predicates of the universe, comprehending the deity. It 
consists of Chit, or spirit ; Achit, or matter ; and Isvara, or God : 
or the enjoyer, the thing enjoyed, and the ruler and controller 
of both. 

Besides his primary and secondary form as the Creator and 
creation, the deity has assumed, at different times, particular 
forms and appearances for the benefit of his creatures. He is, 
or has been, visibly present amongst men in five modifications, — in 
his A i cha, objects of worship, as images, etc. ; in the Yibhavas, or 
Avataras, as the fish, boar, etc. ; in certain forms called Yyiihas, 
of which four are enumerated, viz. : Yasudeva or Krishna, 
Balarama, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha; fourthly, in the Sukshma 
form, which, when perfect, comprises six qualities, viz.: viraja, 
absence of human passion ; rimritiju, immortality; visohi, exemp- 
tion from care or pain ; V%j\ghaUd } absence of natural wants; satya- 
kdma, an&satyasankalpa, the love and practise of truth; and fifthly, 
as the antardtmdj or antarjdmi, the human soul or individualised 
spirit. These are t<> be worshipped seriatim as the miuistrant 
ascends in the Bcale of perfection; — adoration is, therefore, five- 
fold, viz. : abhigamanam, cleansing and purifying the temples, 
images, etc. ; updddnam, providing ilowers and perfumes for reli- 



HINDI/ CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 173 

gious rites; tjija, the presentation of such offerings, — (Mood-offer- 
ings, it may be observed, being uniformly prohibited by all the 
Vaishnavas) ; swddhydya, counting the rosary and repeating the 
names of the divinity or any of his forms ; and yoga, the effort to 
unite with the deity. The reward of these acts is elevation to 
the seat of Vishnu, and enjoyment of like state with his own, 
interpreted to be perpetual residence in Vaikuntha, or Vishnu's 
heaven, in a condition of pure ecstacy and eternal rapture. 

The worship of the followers of Ramanuja is addressed to 
Vishnu and Lakshmi, and to their respective incarnations, either 
singly or conjointly. The Sri Vaishnava worship, in the north 
of India, is not very popular, and the sect is rather of a specula- 
tive than practical nature. The teachers are usually Brahmans, 
but the disciples may be of any caste. 

Besides the temples appropriated to Vishnu and his consort 
and their several forms, including those of Krishna and Rama 
and those which are celebrated as objects of pilgrimage, images 
of metal or stone are usually set up in the houses of the private 
members of this sect, which are daily worshipped, and the 
temples and dwellings are all decorated with the Salagrdma 
stone and Tulasi plant. 

The most striking peculiarities in the practices of this sect, 
are the individual preparation, and scrupulous privacy of their 
meals : they must not eat in cotton garments, but, having bathed, 
must put on woollen or silk ; the teachers allow their select 
pupils to assist them, but in general, all the Ramanujas cook for 
themselves, and should the meal, during this process, or whilst 
they are eating, attract even the looks of a stranger, the opera- 
tion is instantly stopped and the viands buried in the ground. 
A similar delicacy in this respect prevails amongst some other 
classes of Hindus, especially the Rajput families, but is not 
carried to so preposterous an extent. 

The chief ceremony of initiation in all Hindu sects is the 
communication by the teacher to the disciple of the Mantra? 

1 The Mantra, and Tilak (or mark on the forehead) are never bestowed on 
any person of impure birth. 



174 APPENDIX II. 

which generally consists of the name of some deity, or a short 
address to him ; it is communicated in a whisper, and never lightly 
made known by the adept to profane ears. The Mantra of the 
Ramanuja sect is said to be the six syllable Mantra — Om Rd- 
mdya namah ; or "Om, salutation to Rarna " 

Another distinction amongst sects, but merely of a civil cha- 
racter, is the term or terms with which the religious members 
salute each other when they meet, or in which they are ad- 
dressed by the lay members. This among the Ramanujas is the 
phrase Ddsosmi (^ nflf*^) or Ddsoham (rfUfl^); "I am your 
slave;" accompanied with the Pranam, or slight inclination of 
the head, and the application of the joined hands to the forehead. 
To the A'chdryas, or supreme teachers of this sect, the rest per- 
form the Ashtanga Dandavat, or "prostration of the body, with 
the application of eight parts" (the forehead, breast, hands, 
knees and insteps of the feet) to the ground. 

The Hindu sects are usually discriminated by various fantas- 
tical streaks on their faces, breasts and arms : for this purpose, 
all the Vaishnavas employ especially a white earth called Gop'i- 
chandana, which, to be of the purest description, should be 
brought from Dwaraka, 1 being said to be the soil of a pool at 
that place, in which the Gopis drowned themselves when they 
heard of Krishna's death. The common Gopi'chandana, however, 
is nothing but a magnesian or calcareous clay. The marks of 
the Ramanujas are two perpendicular white lines drawn from 
the root of the hair to the commencement of each eye-brow, and 
a transverse streak connecting them across the root of the nose: 
in the cent re is a perpendicular streak of red, made with red 
Sanders, or Rait, a preparation of rice, turmeric, and lime (or 
alum) with acid; they have also patches of Gopi'chandana, with 
a central red streak, on the breast and each upper arm: the 
marks air supposed to represent the S'ankh, Chakra, Gadd, and 
Padma (or shell, discus, club and lotus), which Vishnu bears in 
ln> foor hands, whilst the central streak is Sri or Lakshmi. 2 

1 On the West coast <>f Guierat. 

1 The efficacy of these marks is gpeat ; from the Kasi Khand we learn that 
Yuma or l'lulo spares those who wear thorn, for iu them no sin exists. 



HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 175 

Some have these objects carved on wooden stamps with which 
they impress the emblems on their bodies, and others carry their 
doctrines so far as to have the parts cicatrized with heated me- 
tallic models of the objects they propose to represent, bnt this is 
not regarded as a creditable practice : besides these marks, they 
wear a necklace of the wood of the Tulasf, and carry a rosary of 
the seeds of the same plant or of the Lotus. 

The Ramanujas are not very numerous in the north of India, 
where they are better known as Sri Vaishnavas ; they are de- 
cidedly hostile to the S'aiva sect, and are not on very friendly 
terms with the modern votaries of Krishna, although they re- 
cognise that deity as an incarnation of Vishnu. 

2. Rdmdnandis or Rdmdwats. 

The followers of Ramanand are much better known than 
those of Ramanuja in upper Hindustan ; they are usually con- 
sidered as a branch of the Ramanuja sect, and address their 
devotions peculiarly to Rama- Chandra, and the divine mani- 
festations connected with Vishnu in that incarnation, as Sita, 
Lakshmana and Hanuman. 

The schism of Ramanand originated in the resentment of an 
affront offered him by his fellow-disciples and sanctioned by 
his teacher. 

The residence of Ramanand was at Benares, at the Pancha 
Gangd ghat, where a Math or monastery of his followers is said 
to have existed, but to have been destroyed by some of the Mu- 
salman princes : at present there is merely a stone platform in 
the vicinity, bearing the supposed impression of his feet, but 
there are many Maths of his followers, of celebrity, at Benares, 
the Panchdyat, or council, at which city is the chief authority 
amongst the Ramawats in upper India. 

As they maintain the superiority of Rama, in the present or 
Kali Yug, they are collectively known as Ramawats, although 
the same variety prevails amongst them, as amongst the Rama- 
nujas, as to the exclusive or collective worship of the male and 



176 APPENDIX II. 

female members of this incarnation, i.e. of Rama and Sita, singly, 
or jointly, as Sita-Rama. 

Individuals of them pay particular veneration to some of the 
other forms of Vishnu, and they hold in like estimation as the 
Rarnanujas and every Vaishnava sect the S diagram stone and 
Tuls'i plant ; their forms of worship correspond with those of the 
Hindus generally, but some of the mendicant members of the sect, 
who are very numerous, and are usually known as Vairdgis, or 
Viraktas, consider all forms of adoration superfluous, beyond the 
incessant invocation of the name Krishna and Rama. 

The practices of this sect are of a less precise nature than 
those of the Rarnanujas, it being the avowed object of the 
founder to release his disciples from those fetters which he had 
found so inconvenient ; in allusion to this, indeed, he gave, it is 
said, the appellation Avadhuta, or " Liberated," to his scholars, 
and they admit no particular observances with respect to eating 
or bathing, but follow their own inclination, or comply with the 
common practice in these respects. The initiatory Mantra is said 
to be S'ri Rama — the salutation is Jay a S'r'i llama, Jag a Rama 
or SUd Ram: their marks are the same as those of the preceding, 
except that the red perpendicular streak on the forehead is varied 
in shape and extent, at the pleasure of the individual, and is 
generally narrower than that of the Rarnanujas. 

Various sects are considered to be but branches of the Rd- 
mdnandi Faishnavas, and their founders are asserted to have been 
amongst, his disciples : of these disciples, twelve are particularised 
as the most eminent, some of whom have given origin to reli- 
gious distinctions of great celebrity ; and, although their doctrines 
arc often \< it dill! rent from those of Ramanand, yet the popular 
tradition is so far corroborated, that they maintain an amiable 
intercourse with the followers of Ramanand and with each 
other. 

There are three different lists of these twelve disciples which 
do not agree. One is found in Price's Selections, a second in the 
Bhakta Mala, and Dr. Wilson gives a third. All agree, however, 
in naming Kab'ir, the weaver ; Raidas, flic chamar, or currier ; 



HINDI/ CASTES AND BELIGIOUS SECTS. 177 

P'zpa, the Rajput ; Dharma, the Jat ; Sena, or Seva, the barber, 
and some others, a list which shows that the school of Ramanand 
admitted disciples of every caste. It is in fact asserted in the 
Bhakta Mala that the distinction of caste is inadmissible accord- 
ing to the tenets of the Ramanandis. There is no difference, 
they say, between the Bhagavdn and the Bhaht (or the deity and 
his worshipper). But Bhagavan appeared in inferior forms, as a 
fish, a boar, a tortoise, etc. ; so the Bhakta likewise may be 
born as a Chamar, a Korhi, a Chhipi, or any other degraded caste. 

When we consider the character of the reputed disciples of 
Ramanand, and the tenets of those sects which they founded, we 
are led to the conclusion that this individual, if he did not invent, 
at least gave fresh force to a very important encroachment upon 
the orthodox system. He in fact abrogated the distinction of 
caste amongst the religious orders, and taught that the holy 
character who quitted the ties of nature and society, " shook off," 
at the same time, all personal distinction. This seems to be the 
proper import of the term Avadhiita,, and the popular character 
of the works of this school corroborates this view of Ramananda's 
innovation. Sankara and Ramanuja, writing to and for the 
brahmanical order alone, composed chiefly, if not solely, Sanskrit 
commentaries on the texts of the Yedas, or Sanskrit expositions 
of their peculiar doctrines ; and the teachers of these opinions, 
whether monastic or secular, are indispensably of the brahman- 
ical caste. It does not appear that arjy works exist which are 
attributed to Ramanand himself, but those of his followers are 
written in the provincial dialects, and addressed to the capacity, 
as well as placed within the reach, of every class of readers, and 
every one of those may become a Yairagi and rise in time to be a 
Guru or Mahant. 

We shall have occasion to speak again particularly of such of 
the above mentioned disciples of Ramanand, as instituted separate 
sects, but there are several who did not aspire to that distinction, 
and whose celebrity is nevertheless still very widely spread 
throughout Hindustan. "We shall here simply remark that the 
four most famous authors in this sect are Nabhaji (the author of 

12 



178 APPENDIX II. 

the " Bhakta Mala"), Sur Das 1 and Tulasi Das (to whose poetical 
talents the late version of it is largely indebted), and Jayadeva, 
whose songs have been translated by Sir W. Jones. 

Besides the legendary tales of the celebrated writer Tulasi 
Das, whose works exercise more influence upon the great body 
of the Hindu population than the whole voluminous series of 
Sanskrit compositions, we have other notices of him collected from 
his own works, or preserved by tradition, that differ from them 
in some respects. From these it appears that Tulasi Das was a 
brahman of the Sarvariah branch, and a native of Hajipur, near 
Chitrakuta ; when arrived at maturity he settled at Benares, and 
held the office of Dewan to the Raja of that city. His spiritual 
perceptor was Jagannath Das ; he followed his teacher to Go- 
vardhan, but afterwards returned to Benares and there com- 
menced his Hindi version of the Ramayana in the year of Samvat 
1631, when he was thirty-one years of age. Besides this work, 
which is highly popular, Tulasi Das is the author of a Sat sayd, 
or collection of 100 stanzas on various subjects, and of a great 
variety of hymns, as Ragas, Kavits and Padas, in honour of 
Rama and Sita. Tulasi Das continued to reside at Benares, 
where he built a temple to Sita Rama and founded a Math ad- 
joining, both of which are still in existence ; he died in the year 
of the Samvat era 1680, or a.d. 1624, in the reign of Jehangir; 
— the legendary story, therefore, of his intercourse with Shah 
Jehan is consequently an anachronism. 

The ascetic and mendicant followers of Ramanand, known indis- 
criminately as Ramanandis or Ramawats, are by far the most 
numerous class of sectaries in Gangctic India ; in Bengal they 
are comparatively few ; beyond that province and as far as Alla- 
habad, although perhaps the most numerous, they yield in in- 
fluenoe and wealth to the S'aiva branches, especially to th.e At'its; 
from that place, however, they predominate, and either by them- 

1 This popular Hindi poet and ringer was blind. Hence any blind men- 
dicant musician is, oompfimentarily, called a Stir-dee by the Hindus. N&- 
lihiiji was also dor* blind, hut is Baid t<> have obtained his sight when about 
&?e years "Id. The praises of Vishnu were the chief subject of the composi- 
tions of all these poets. 



HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 179 

selves or their kindred divisions almost engross the whole of the 
country along the Ganges and Jamuna ; in the district of Agra 
they alone constitute seven-tenths of the ascetic population. The 
Ramanandis have very numerous votaries, but they are chiefly 
from the poorer and inferior classes, with the exception of the 
Rajputs and military Brahmans, amongst whom the poetical 
works of Sur Das and Tulasi Das maintain the pre-eminence of 
Ram and his Bhakts. 

3. Kabir Panthis. 

Amongst the twelve disciples of Ramanand, the most cele- 
brated of all and one who seems to have produced, directly or 
indirectly, a greater effect on the state of popular belief than any 
other, was Kabir. With an unprecedented boldness he assailed 
the whole system of idolatrous worship, and ridiculed the learning 
of the Pandits and doctrines of the S'astras, in a style peculiarly 
well suited to the genius of his countrymen, to whom he ad- 
dressed himself, whilst he also directed his compositions to the 
Musalman, as well as to the Hindu faith, and with equal severity 
attacked the Mulla, and the Quran. The effect of his lessons, as 
confined to his immediate followers, will be shown to have been 
considerable, but their indirect effect has been still greater; 
several of the popular sects being little more than ramifications 
from his stock, whilst Nanak Shah, the only Hindu reformer 
who has established a national faith, appears to have been chiefly 
indebted for his religious notions to his predecessor Kabir. This 
sect therefore claims particular attention. 

The account of his birth and life are found in the Bhalcta 
Mala. All traditions concur in making Kabir the disciple of 
Ramanand, although various stories are narrated of the method 
by which he obtained that distinction and overcame the objec- 
tions started to him as a man of low caste, or according to very 
general belief, of the Muhammadan persuasion. 1 

1 The Musalmans (though on very untenable ground) claimed him as one 
of their faith. This occasioned a contest at the death of Kabir — the Hindus 



1£0 APPENDIX II. 

It is exceedingly probable that Kabir flourished about the be- 
ginning of the 15 th century : and it is also not unlikely that his 
innovations were connected with the previous exertions of Ra- 
miinand ; consequently that teacher must have lived about the 
end of the 14th. 

The Kabir Panthis, in consequence of their master having been 
the reputed disciple of Raman and, and of their paying more 
respect to Vishnu, than the other members of the Hindu triad, are 
always included amongst the Yaishnava sects, and maintain with 
most of them, the Ramawats especially, a friendly intercourse 
and political alliance. It is no part of their faith, however, to 
worship any Hindii deity, or to observe any of the rites or cere- 
monials of the Hindus, whether orthodox or schismatical ; such 
of their members as are living in the world conform outwardly 
to all the usages of their tribe and caste, and some of them even 
pretend to worship the usual divinities, though this is considered 
as going rather farther than is justifiable. Those, however, who 
have abandoned the fetters of society, abstain from all the ordi- 
nary practices, and address their homage, chiefly in chanting 
hymns, exclusively to the invisible Kabir : they use no llantra 
nor fixed form of salutation; they have no peculiar mode of 
dress, and some of them go nearly naked, without objecting, 
however, to clothe themselves, in order to appear dressed where 
clothing is considered decent or respectful. The Mahants wear 
a small silk cap : the frontal marks, if worn, are usually those of 
the Yaishnava sects, or they make a streak with Sandal or Go- 
pichandan along the ridge of the nose ; a necklace and rosary of 
Iktlasi arc also worn by them, but all these outward signs are 
considered of no importance, and the inward man is the only 

insisting on burning his corpse, the Afuhammadanfi on burying it. To end the 
dispute (bo runs tradition) Etabir himself appeared and desired them to look 

miller the doth that covered his remains. On doing so nothing Mas found but 

a heap of dowers. One half of these the then Raja of Benares removed to 
t li.it city where thej were burnt, and where he appropriated a spot now called 
the Kabir Chaurd for the reception of their ashes, while the Muhammadan 
chief BijU Khan erected a tomb over the other portion at Magar, near Go- 
rakhpur, where Kabii had died, Both are now places of pilgrimage with the 
followers of this sect. 



HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 181 

essential part to be attended to. To avoid persecution, however, 
Kabir said, 

*R% fff%$ *R% faf%i* TER ^fiT ^tf^ TT3 I 

ft #t ft ^t *r% sftf^ ^f%$ wfi ?nit II 

Associate and mix with all, and take the names of all ; 

Say to every one, Yes Sir, Yes Sir ; abide in your own village} 

That is, if they are addressed "Ram Ram," etc., they must 
answer with the same salutation. 

The doctrines of Kabir are taught in a great variety of works 
in different dialects of Hindi ; they are the acknowledged com- 
positions of his disciples and successors, but they are mostly in 
the form of dialogues, and profess to be of his utterance, either 
in his own words with the phrase, "Kabir verily says," or 
" Kabir has said," or they are given in the language of his fol- 
lowers, when the expression, "the slave of Kabir," is used. The 
style of all their works is very peculiar ; they are written in the 
usual forms of Hindi verse, the Doha, Chaupdi and Samdi; and 
are very voluminous, as may be inferred from the collection pre- 
served in the Khas Grantha, or the book at the Chaura. There 
are twenty in all, but the principal are the Sukh ISTidhan, Go- 
rakhnathki Goshthi, Kabir Panji and the Yijek (or Bijek). 

There are also a variety of stanzas, called Agams, Banis, etc., 
composing a very formidable course of study to those who wish 
to go deep into the doctrine of this school, and one in which the 
greatest proficients amongst the Kabir Panthis are but imperfectly 
versed ; a few sdlchas, shabdas and relchtas, with the greater portion 
of the Yijek, constituting their acquirements; these, however, 
they commit to memory and quote in argument with singular 
readiness and happiness of application. 

The Goshthis, or disputations of Kabir, are not read till more 
advanced; whilst the Sukh Nidhan, which is the key to the 
whole, and which has the singularity of being quite clear and 

1 Or more freely — 

Unite with all, commune with all, acknowledge every God ; 
" Yes, yes, sir," say to every one ; but change not your abode. 



182 APPENDIX II. 

intelligible, is only imparted to those pupils whose studies are 
considered to approach perfection. This great authority amongst 
the Kabir Panthis is written in very harmonious verse ; it rather 
inveighs against other systems than explains its own, and it is 
perhaps impossible to derive from it any satisfactory conclusion 
as to the real doctrines of Kabir. 

"We shall now proceed to state the doctrines of Kabir according 
to the authority of the Su/ch Nidhdn. The Sukh Nidhan is sup- 
posed to be addressed by Kabir himself to Dharmadas, his chief 
pupil, and follower of Ramanand's doctrines ; it is said to be the 
work of S'rutgopal, the first of Kabir's disciples. 

From this authority it appears, that although the Kabir Pan- 
this have withdrawn, in such a very essential point as worship, 
from the Hindu communion, they still preserve abundant vestiges 
of their primitive source ; and that their notions are in substance 
the same as those of the Pauranic sects, especially of the Vaish- 
nava division. They admit of but one God, the creator of the 
world ; and in opposition to the Yedanta notions of the absence 
of every quality and form, they assert that he has body, formed 
of the five elements of matter ; and that he has mind, endowed 
with the three Gunas, or qualities of being, of course of ineffable 
purity and irresistible power; he is free from the defects of 
human nature, and can assume what particular shape he will ; 
in all other respects he does not differ from man, and the pure 
man, the Sddh of the Kabir sect, is his living resemblance, and 
after death is his associate and equal ; he is eternal without end 
or beginning, as in fact are the material elements of which he 
consists and of w r hich all things are made, residing in him before 
they took their present form, as the parts of the tree abide in the 
i ; or as flesh, blood and bone may be considered to be present 
in the seminal fluid. From the latter circumstance and the iden- 
tity of their essential nature, proceeds the doctrine that God and 
man arc not only the same, but that they are both in the same 
manner, everything that lives and moves and has its being. 
Other Beetfl have adopted these phrases literally, but the followers 
of Kabir do not mean by them to deny the individuality of being, 



HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 183 

and only intend these texts as assertions of all nature originally 
participating in common elementary principles. 

The Parama-purusha was alone for seventy-two ages, for, after 
the Pauraniks, the Kabir Panthis maintain successive and endless 
creations ; he then felt a desire to renew the world, which desire 
became manifest in a female form, being the Maya, 1 from whom 
all the mistaken notions current amongst mankind originate : 
with this female (the Adi Bhavam, Prakriti or S'akti) the Param- 
purusha (or first male) cohabits and begets the Hindii triad, 
Brahma, Vishnu and S'iva. He then disappears, and the lady makes 
advances to her own sons : the result of this is the birth of Saras- 
wati, Lakshmi and Uma, whom she weds to the three deities, 
and then establishing herself at Jwalamukhi, leaves the three 
wedded pairs to frame the universe and give currency to the 
different errors of practice and belief which they have learnt from 
her. It is to the falsehood of Maya and her criminal conduct 
that the Kabir Panthis perpetually allude in their works, and in 
consequence of the deities pinning their faith upon her sleeve, 
that they refuse them any sort of reverential homage. The 
essence of all religion is to know Kabir in his real form, a know- 
ledge which those deities and their worshippers, as well as the 
followers of Muhammad, are all equally strange to, although the 
object of their religion and of all religion is the same. Life is 
the same in all beings, and when free from the vices and defects 
of humanity, assumes any material form it pleases. As long as 
it is ignorant of its source and parent, however, it is doomed to 
transmigration through various forms; and, amongst others, we 
have a new class of them, for it animates the planetary bodies, 
undergoing a fresh transfer, it is supposed, whenever a star or 
meteor falls. As to heaven and hell, they are the inventions of 
Maya, and are therefore both imaginary, except that the Swarga 
of the Hindus and Bihisht of the Musalmans imply worldly 
luxury and sensual enjoyment, whilst Narak and Jahannam are 
those cares and pains which make a hell upon earth. 

The moral code of the Kabir Panthis is short, but if observed 

1 A notion common to all Hindu sects. 



184 AITENDIX II. 

faithfully, is of a rather favourable tendency. Life is the gift 
of God, and must not therefore be violated by his creatures. 
Humanity is consequently a cardinal virtue, and the shedding of 
blood, whether of man or animal, a heinous crime. 

Truth is the other great principle of their code, as all the ills 
of the world and ignorance of God are attributable to original 
falsehood. 

Retirement from the world is desirable, because the passions 
and desires, the hopes and fears, which the social state engenders, 
are all hostile to tranquillity and purity of spirit, and prevent 
that undisturbed meditation on man and God which is necessary 
to their comprehension. 

The las t t great duty is the usual sum and substance of every 
sect amongst the Hindus, implicit devotion, in word, act, and 
thought, to the Guru or spiritual guide : in this, however, the 
characteristic spirit of the Kabir Panthis appears, and the pupil 
is enjoined to scrutinize his teacher's doctrines and acts, and to 
be first satisfied that he is the sage he pretends to be, before he 
resigns himself to his control. 

Irregular conduct is visited by reproof and admonition : if the 
offender does not reform, the Guru refuses to receive his salu- 
tation ; if still incurable, the only further infliction is expulsion 
from the fraternity. 

The doctrine of outward conformity and the absence of visible 
objects of worship have prevented this sect from spreading very 
generally throughout India: it is, however, very widely diffused, 
and lias given rise to many others that have borrowed its phrase- 
ology and caught a considerable portion of its spirit; the sect 
Itself is split into a variety of subdivisions, and there are no 
fewer than twelve branches of it traced up to the founder, be- 
tween which a difference of opinion as well as descent prevails. 
The founders of these twelve blanches and the position of their 
descendants arc the following: — 

1. S'rutgopul l);is, the author of the Sukh Mdhan: his suc- 
cessors preside over the Chaura* at Benares, the Samadh atMagar, 
-tii establishment at Jagannath, and one at Dwaraka. 



HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 185 

2. Bhago Das, the author of the Bijek; his successors reside 
at Dhanauti. 

3. Narayan Das, and 

4. Churaman Das : these two were the sons of Dharma Das, a 
merchant of the Kasaundhya tribe, of the S'ri Yaishnava sect, and 
one of Kabir' s first and most important converts ; his residence 
was at Bandho, near Jabbalpur, where the maths of his posterity 
long remained. The Mahants were family men, thence termed 
Bans-gurus. The line of Narayan Das is extinct, and the present 
successor of Churaman being the son of a concubine, is not 
acknowledged as a Mahant by all the other branches. 

5. Jaggo Das ; the Gaddi, or pillow at Kattak. 

6. Jivan Das, the founder of the Setnanri sect, to whom we 
shall again have occasion to advert. 

7. Kamal, — Bombay: the followers of this teacher practise 
the Yoga. 

8. Tak Sali,— Baroda. 

9. Gyani, — Majjhni, near Sahasram. 

10. Saheb Das, — Kattak : his followers are called Mala Panthis. 

11. NTityanand. 

12. Kamal Nad : these two settled somewhere in the Dekhan. 
There are also some popular and perhaps local distinctions 

of the sect, a3 Hansa Kabiris, Dana Kabiris, and Hangrela 
Kabiris. 

Of these establishments, the Kabir Chaura at Benares is pre- 
eminent in dignity, and constantly visited by wandering members 
of the sect. At a grand meeting there 35,000 Kabir Panthis of 
the monastic and mendicant class are said to have collected. 
There is no doubt that the Kabir Panthis, both clerical and lay, 
are very numerous in all the provinces of upper and central 
India, except perhaps in Bengal itself. The quaker-like spirit of 
the sect, their abhorrence of all violence, their regard for truth, 
and the unobtrusiveness of their opinions, render them very in- 
offensive members of the state ; their mendicants also never solicit 
alms, and in this capacity even they are less obnoxious than the 
many religious vagrants, whom the rank soil of Hindu super- 



186 APPENDIX II. 

stition and the enervating operation of an Indian climate so 
plentifully engender. 

4. KJidlis. 

This division of the Yaishnavas is generally derived, though 
not immediately, from Ramanand, and is undoubtedly connected 
in its polity and practice with his peculiar followers. The re- 
puted founder is Kil, a disciple of Krishnadas, whom some accounts 
make the disciple of Asiinand (or Tahtanand), the disciple of 
Hamanand. 

They are generally confounded with Bairagis. They are dis- 
tinguished from other Yaishnavas, by the application of clay and 
ashes to their dress or persons ; those who reside in fixed estab- 
lishments generally dress like other Yaishnavas, but those who 
lead a wandering life, go either naked or nearly so, smearing 
their bodies with the pale grey mixture of ashes and earth, and 
making in this state an appearance very incompatible with the 
mild and decent character of the Yaishnava sect in general ; the 
Khakis also frequently wear the Jatd or braided hair. 

Many Khakis are established about Farakabad, but their prin- 
cipal seat in this part of India is at Hanuman-garh, near Ayod- 
hva, in Oude ; the Samadhi, or spiritual throne of the founder, is 
said to be at Jaipur; the term Samadhi 1 applied to it, however, 
would seem to indicate that they bury their dead. 

5. Malhk Deists. 

M;iluk Pas was fifth in descent from llamauand, being the 
immediate disciple of Kfl baba. The modifications of the Yaish- 
nava doctrines introduced by Maliik Das, appear to have been 
little more than (lie name of the teacher and a shorter streak of 
red in the forehead; in one respect indeed there is an impor- 
tant distinction between these and the Bamanandf ascetics; the 
teachers of the Malwk Dasis appear to be of the secular order, 

1 A Samddhi ifl properly the tomb of a Jogi, who, from religious motives, 
has submitted to be buried alive. 



HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 187 

Grihasthas or house-holders, whilst the others are all coenobites ; 
the doctrines, however, are essentially the same. Their chief au- 
thority is the Bhagavad Gita ; they have also some Hindi S'dkhds 
and Vishnu Facias attributed to their founder, as also a work in 
the same language entitled the Das Ratan. The followers of this 
sect are said to be numerous in particular districts, especially 
among the trading and servile classes, to the former of which the 
founder belonged. The principal establishment of the MaMk 
Dasis is at Kara Manikpur, the birth-place of the founder, and 
still occupied by his descendants. Besides this there are six other 
Maths belonging to this sect, at Allahabad, Benares, Brindaban, 
Ayodhya, Lucknow and Jagannath, which last is of great repute, 
as rendered sacred by the death of Maluk Das. 1 

6. Dadu PantMs. 

This class is one of the indirect ramifications of the Eamanandi 
stock, and is always included in the Yaishnava schisms. Its 
founder is said to have been a pupil of one of the Kabir Panthi 
teachers, and to be fifth in descent from Bamanand. 

The worship is addressed to Kama, but it is restricted to the 
Japa, or repetition of his name, and the Rama intended is the 
deity negatively described in the Yedanta theology : temples and 
images are prohibited. Dadu flourished, if the list of his reli- 
gious descent be accurate, about the year a.d. 1600, at the end of 
Akbar's reign, or in the beginning of that of Jehangir. His 
followers wear no peculiar frontal mark nor mala, but carry a 
rosary, and are further distinguished by a peculiar sort of cap, 
a round white cap according to some, but according to others, 
one with four corners, and a flap hanging down behind, which 
it is essential that each man should manufacture for himself. 

The Dadu Panthis are of three classes, — the Virahtas, who are 
religious characters, go bare-headed, and have but one garment 
and one water-pot ; the Nag as, who carry arms, which they are 

1 Maluk Das is supposed to have lived during the latter part of the reign 
of Akhar and down to the commencement of that of Aurangzeh — or from 200 
to 250 years ago. 



188 APPENDIX II. 

willing to exercise for hire, and amongst the Hindu princes they 
have been considered as good soldiers ; the third class is that of 
the Bistar Dlidris, who follow the occupations of ordinary life. 
A further subdivision exists in this sect, and the chief branches 
again form fifty-two divisions or Thambas, the peculiarities of 
which have not been ascertained. The Dadu Panthis burn their 
dead at dawn, but their religious members not unfrequently enjoin 
that their bodies, after death, shall be thrown into some field or 
some wilderness, to be devoured by the beasts and birds of prey, 
as they say that in a funeral pile insect life is apt to be destroyed. 

The Dadu Panthis are said to be very numerous in Marwar and 
Ajmir. Of the Naga class alone, the Eaja of Jaipur is reported 
to entertain as soldiers more than ten thousand. The chief place 
of worship is at jSTaraina, where the veda of Dadu, and the 
collection of the texts of the sect, are preserved and worshipped, 
and where a Mela (or religious fair) is held annually, for fifteen 
days, in the month of Phalgun (February-March). 

The tenets of the sect are contained in several BJidshd works, 
in which it is said a vast number of passages from the Kabir 
writings are inserted, and the general character of which is 
certainly of a similar nature. 1 

Professor Wilson, in his sketch, next notices the Rai Dasis, a 
currier ( Chamdr) sect, and the Sena Panthis, the existence of 
both of which, at present, is a matter of doubt. 

7. Rudra Sainjjraddi/is, or Vallabhdchdris. 

These worship Bala Gopala, the infant Krishna. This sect 
embraces all ranks of Hindu society, and is widely spread. The 
founder of it Mas Vallabha AYharya. This sect is better known 
from t lie title of its teachers, as Oohilastha Gosdihs. 

Tin- original teacher of the philosophical tenets of this sect is 
Baid to have been Vishnu Swaini, a commentator on the texts of 

1 Pot a \< tv lull account of their doctrines, in a translation of one of their 
wmks, see :i paper by Lieutenant Siddons, in the Journal of the Asiatic 
Society, June, 1S37. 



HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 189 

the Vedas, who, however, admitted disciples from the Brah- 
manical caste only, and considered the state of the Sannyasi, or 
ascetic, as essential to the commnnication of his doctrines. 
Vallabha Acharya was a successor of the above. He was a 
Sannyasi, and taught early in the sixteenth century. He resided 
originally at Gokul, a village on the left bank of the Yamuna, 
about three coss to the east of Mathura. After remaining there 
some time, he travelled through India as a pilgrim. There is a 
Baithak (or station) of his amongst the Ghats of Muttra, and 
about two miles from the fort of Chunar is a place called his well. 
After this peregrination, Yallabha returned to Brindaban. The 
Mahabharat and Bhagavat do not recommend the special worship 
of Krishna as distinct from Vishnu ; but the Brahma Yaivartta 
Purana claims supremacy for Krishna. This, then, is their text 
book. 

Amongst other articles of the new creed, Yallabha introduced 
one which is rather singular for a Hindu religious innovator or 
reformer. He taught that privation formed no part of sanctity, 
and that it was the duty of the teacher and his disciples to 
worship their deity, not in nudity and hunger, but in costly 
apparel and choice food ; not in solitude and mortification, but in 
the pleasures of society and the enjoyment of the world. The 
Gosaihs, or teachers, are almost always family men, as was the 
founder Yallabha. 

The followers of the order are especially numerous amongst the 
mercantile community, and the Gosaihs themselves are often largely 
engaged also in maintaining a connection amongst the commercial 
establishments of remote parts of the country, as they are con- 
stantly travelling over India, under pretence of pilgrimage, and 
thus reconcile the profits of trade with the benefits of devotion. 

The practices of the sect are of a similar character with those 
of other regular worshippers. Eight times a day the image of the 
boy Krishna, either in the house or temple, is worshipped. 

The mark on the forehead consists of two red perpendicular 
lines, meeting in a semicircle on the top of the nose, and having 
a round spot of red between them. The Bhaktas have the same 



190 APPENDIX II. 

marks as the S'ri Yaishnavas on the breasts and arms, and some 
also make the central spot on the forehead with a black earth 
called S'yamabandi, or any black metallic substance ; the necklace 
and rosary are made of the stalk of the Tulasi. The salutations 
amongst them are Sri Krishna and Jaya Gopdl. 

The great authority of the sect is the Bhagavat, as explained 
iu the Subodhini, or commentary of Yallabhaeharya. He is the 
author also of a Bhdshyd 1 on part of Yyasa's Sutras, and of other 
Sanskrit works, as the Siddhdnta Rahasya, Bhdgavad Lild 
Rahasya, and Ekdnta Rahasya. Amongst the votaries in general, 
various works upon the history of Krishna are current, but the 
most popular are the Vishnu Padas, stanzas in Bhasha, 2 in praise 
of Yishnu, attributed to Yallabha himself; the Brij Bilas, a 
Bhasha poem of some length ; the Ashtachhap, an account of 
Vallabha's eight disciples ; and the Barta, a collection of insipid 
anecdotes. 

The worshippers of this sect are very numerous and opulent, 
the merchants and bankers, especially those of Gujeratand Malwa, 
belonging to it. Their temples and establishments are numerous 
all over India, but particularly at Mathura and Brindaban, the 
latter of which alone is said to contain many hundreds, amongst 
which are three of great opulence. 

In Benares are two temples of great repute and wealth, one 
sacred to Sat Ji, and the other to Purushottama Ji. Jagannath and 
Pwarika are also particularly venerated by this sect, but the most 
celebrated of all the Gosaiii establishments is at Sri jSTath Dwar, 
in Ajini'r. 

Having thus noticed the chief of the Yaishnava sects, we must 
refer the student, who wishes for further information on the 
subject, for many others, whose names only we can give, to 
Wilson's sketch. 

He notices the Mfra Bafs as a subdivision of the preceding; the 
Brahma Sampradayfe, or Madhvachiiryas as peculiar to the south 

1 Or commentary on technical terms. 

> Or the vernacular dialect, especially that of liraj, in the country around 
Mathura, Brindaban, etc. 



HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 191 

of India ; the Sanakadi Sampradayis, or Nimawats, one of the 
primary Yaishnava divisions ; the Yaishnavas of Bengal, followers 
of Chaitanya, many of whom are settled at Brindaban ; the Badha 
Vallabhis, adorers of Badha exclusively ; the Sakhi Bhavas, who 
wear women's clothes, etc. ; the Charan Dasi's, Harischandis, 
Sadhna Panthis, and Madhavis. 

Dr. Wilson concludes by describing the real meanings of the 
words Sannyasi, Yairagi, and Naga. 1 He also speaks of sects which 
are half Muhammadan, as the followers of Sheikh Madar, who, 
although they credit the divine mission of Muhammad, disregard 
the established forms of the Musalman faith, chew bhang, and go 
naked, smearing their bodies with ashes and twisting the hair 
into the Jata, 2 etc. The naked sectaries are always the most de- 
graded and violent in their manners. 

(b.) Or the S'aiva Sects. 

The principal of these were founded or confirmed by the cele- 
brated commentator on the Vedas, Sankara Acharya, who con- 
tended that S'iva was pre-eminent among the gods. The S'aivas, 
therefore, worship Mahadev as the Supreme Being, and deny the 
independent existence of Vishnu and other deities. 

The S'aivas are all worshippers of S'iva and Bhavani con- 
jointly, and they adore the LiDga or compound type of the god 
and goddess. There are no exclusive worshippers of S'iva besides 
the sect of naked gymnosophists called Lingis ; and the exclusive 
adorers of the goddess are the S'aktas. 

The adoration of S'iva is not so popular in upper India as it is 
in the south. "Wilson conjectures that this may arise from the 
rude and unattractive emblem in which he generally appears, the 
mystic purpose of which is little understood or regarded by the 
uninitiated and vulgar, and which offers nothing to interest the 

1 Though often confounded or used indiscriminately, these terms properly 
describe different classes of religious mendicants. The Sannyasis are more 
peculiarly the followers of S'iva, the Vairagis those of Vishnu. The Nagas 
are those who go naked, and are the most profligate and worthless of the 
mendicant devotees. 

2 i.e. The hair matted or clotted together, sometimes like a horn. 



192 APPENDIX II. 

feelings or excite the imagination. ~No legends are recorded of 
this deity of a poetic and pleasing character ; and, above all, such 
legends as are narrated in the Puranas and Tantras, have not 
been presented to the Hindus in any accessible shape. The 
S'ivas have no works, as the Vaishnavas, in any of the common 
dialects, in which the actions of S'iva, in any of his forms, are 
celebrated. Corresponding to the absence of multiplied forms 
of this divinity as objects of worship, and to the want of works 
which attach importance to particular manifestations of the 
favourite god, the people can scarcely be said to be divided into 
different sects, any farther than as they may have certain religious 
mendicants for their spiritual guides. Actual divisions of the 
worshippers of S'iva are almost restricted to these religious per- 
sonages, collected sometimes in opulent and numerous associations ; 
but, for the greater part, detached, few, and indigent. There 
are no teachers of ancient repute but Sankara Acharya, and his 
doctrines are too philosophical and speculative to have made him 
popular. 

" The worship of S'iva continues, in fact, to be what it appears 
to have been from a remote period, the religion of the Brahmanas. 
Sambhu (Mahadev) is declared by Manu to be the presiding deity 
of the Brahmanical order; and the greater number of them, 
particularly those who practise the rites of the Vedas, or who 
profess the study of the S'astras, receive S'iva as their tutelary 
deity, wear his insignia, and worship the Linga, either in temples, 
in their houses, or on the side of a sacred stream, providing, in 
the latter case, extempore emblems kneaded out of the mud or 
clay of the river's bed. The example of the Brahmans, and the 
practices of ages, maintain the veneration universally offered to 
the type of S'iva, but it is not the prevailing nor the popular 
condition of the Hindu faith along the banks of the Ganges." l 

1 Asiatic Researches, vol. xvii., p. 170. The above opinion is true in 
gi Q< i ;il. and i sp< cially as to the Ling worship ; but as it respects the worship 
of S'iva al Bhuteswar, or at Babe Adam, it requires modification. A large 
temple at Muttia, dedicated to this form, we are told hy the llev. J. Philips, 
i- constantly frequented; and though Muttra is pre-eminently a Vaishnava 
town, yet the temple of Babe Adam attracts two or three melds in the year. 
A very large lair is also yearly held at the town and temple of Bhuteswar, on 



HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 193 

The following are the principal sects belonging to the S'aiva 
class : 

1. The Dandis and Dasndmis. 

It is customary to consider these two orders as forming but 
one division. The classification is not in every instance correct, 
but the practices of the two are, in many instances, blended, and 
both denominations are accurately applicable to the same indi- 
vidual. It will not be necessary, therefore, to deviate from the 
ordinary enumeration. The Dandis, properly so called, and the 
Tridandis of the Vaishnavas, are the only legitimate representa- 
tives of the fourth Asrama ("^TT^RT) or mendicant life, into 
which the Hindu is to enter after passing through the previous 
stages of student, householder, and hermit. It is not necessary, 
however, to have gone through the whole of the previous career, 
as the Brahman may pass from any one of the first orders to the 
last at once. He is then to take up his staff and waterpot, to 
derive from begging such a portion of food as is sufficient for his 
mere sustenance, and to devote the remainder of his days to holy 
study and pious meditation. 

Adopting, as a general guide, the rules of original works, the 
Dandi is distinguished by carrying a small dand (^US"), or wand, 
with several processes or projections from it, and a piece of cloth 
dyed with red ochre,, in which the Brahmanical cord is supposed 
to be enshrined, attached to it. He shaves his hair and beard, wears 
only a cloth round his loins, and subsists upon food obtained ready 
dressed from the houses of the Brahmans once a day only, which 
he deposits in the small clay pot that he carries always with him. 
He should live alone, and near to, but not within a city ; but 
this rule is rarely observed, and, in general, the Dandis are 
found in cities, collected, like other mendicants, in Maths. The 
Dandi has no particular time or mode of worship, but spends his 
time in meditation, or in practices corresponding with those of 

the Jumna, between Agra and Etaych. Hundreds of thousands of every caste, 
besides the Brahmans, then rush to pay their adorations in the great temple. 
Vis'es'wara temple, in Benares, the domes of which arc beautifully gilt, is much 
frequented by pilgrims of every caste. 

13 



194 APPENDIX II. 

the Toga, and in the study of the Yedanta works, especially 
according to the comments of Sankaracharya. As that teacher 
was an incarnation of S'iva, the Dandis reverence that deity and 
his incarnations in preference to the other members of the Triad, 
whence they are included among his votaries ; and they so far 
admit the distinction as not unfrequently to bear the S'aiva mark 
upon the forehead, smearing it with the Tripundra (f^MU^) 
triple tranverse line (g), made with the Vibhuti (f^fRf), or 
ashes which should be taken from the fire of an Agnihotra Brah- 
man, or they may be the ashes of burnt cow-dung from an 
oblation offered to the god. They also adopt the initiating Mantra 
of all the Suiva classes, either the five or six syllable Mantra, 
Namah, or Om Namah, Sii'dya (^if^JJj or^J^*\wf^c(\'Z(). 
The genuine Dandi, however, is not necessarily of the S'aiva or 
any other sect, and in their establishments it will be usually 
found that they profess to adore Nirguna (fiT^UST) or Niranjana 
(f^n^HT)* the deity devoid of attribute or passion. 

The Dandis, who are rather practical than speculative, and who 
have little pretence to the appellation beyond the epithet and 
outward signs of the order, are those most correctly included 
among the S'aiva sects. Amongst these, the worship of S'iva, as 
Bhairava, is the prevailing form, and, in that case, part of the 
ceremony of initiation consists in inflicting a small incision on the 
inner part of the knee, and drawing the blood of the novice as an 
acceptiblc offering to the god. The Dandis, of every description, 
have also a peculiar mode of disposing of their dead, putting them 
into coffins and burying them, or, when practicable, committing 
them to some sacred stream. The reason of this is their being 
prohibited the use of fire on any account. 

Any Hindu of the three first classes may become Sannyasi or 
Dandi, or in these degenerate days, a Hindu of any caste may 
adopt the life and emblems of this order. Such are sometimes 
met with, as also are Brahmaus, who. without connecting them- 
selves with any community, assume the character of this class of 
mendicants. These constitute the Dandis simply so termed, and 
are regarded us distinct from the primitive members of the order, 



HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 

to whom the appellation of Dasnami's is also applied, and who 
admit none but Brahnians into their fraternity. 

The Dasnami Dandis, who are regarded as the descendants of 
the original members of the fraternity, are said to refer their 
origin to Sankara Acharya, an individual who appears to have 
performed a part of some importance in the religious history of 
Hindustan. 

All accounts concur in representing Sankara as leading an 
erratic life, and engaging in successful controversy with various 
sects, whether of the S'aiva, Vaishnava, or less orthodox per- 
suasions. Towards the close of his life, he repaired as far as 
Kashmir, and seated himself, after triumphing over various 
opponents, on the throne of Saraswati. He next went to 
Badarikasrama, and finally to Kedarnath, in the Himalaya, 
where he died at the early age of thirty-two. 1 

The spiritual descendants of Sankara, in the first degree, are 
variously named by different authorities, but usually agree in 
the number. He is said to have had four principal disciples, 
who, in the popular tradition, are called Padmapada, Hasti- 
malaka, Sureswara or bandana, and Trotaka. Of these, the 
first had two pupils, T'irtha and A'srama ; the second, Tana and 
Aranya ; the third had three, Saraswati, Pari, and Bharati ; 
and the fourth had also three, Giri or Gir, Parvata, and Sdgara. 
These, which being all-significant terms, were no doubt adopted 
names, constitute collectively the appellation Dasnami, or the 
ten-named; and when a Brahman enters into either class, he 
attaches to his own denomination that of the class of which he 
becomes a member, as Tirtha, Puri, Gir, etc. The greater portion 
of the ten classes of mendicants thus descended from Sankara 
A'charya, have failed to retain their purity of character, and arc 
only known by their epithets as members of the original order. 
There are but three, and part of a fourth, mendicant classes, or 
those called Tirtha, or Indra, Asrama, Saraswati, and Bharati, 

1 See a fuller account of kirn in Asiatic Researches, vol. xvii., p. 177, and 
vol. xii., p. 536. Also, Wilson's Preface to his Sanskrit Dictionary, for the 
age in which he lived. 



190 APPENDIX II. 

who are still regarded as really Sankara's Dandis. These are 
sufficiently numerous, especially in and about Benares. They 
coraprehend a variety of characters ; but amongst the most re- 
spectable of them are to be found very able expounders of Yedanta 
works. Other branches of Sanskrit literature owe important 
obligations to this religious sect. The most sturdy beggars are 
also members of this order, although their contributions are levied 
particularly upon the Brahmanical class, as whenever a feast is 
given to the Brahnians, the Dandis of this description present 
themselves as unbidden guests, and can only be got rid of by 
bestowing on them a due share of the good things provided for 
their more worldly-minded brethren. Many of them practice the 
Yoga, and profess to work miracles. 

The remaining six and a half members of the Dasnami class, 
although considered as having fallen from the purity of practice 
necessary to the Dandf, are still, in general, religious characters, 
and arc usually denominated Atits. 1 The chief points of differ- 
ence between them and the preceding are their abandonment of 
the staff, their use of clothes, money, and ornaments, their pre- 
paring their own food, and their admission of members from any 
orders of Hindus. They are often collected in Maths as well as 
the Dandis, but they mix freely in the business of the world; 
they carry on trade and often accumulate property, and they 
frequently officiate as priests at the shrines of some of the deities. 
Some of them even marry, but, in that case, they are distinguished 
by the term Sanyogi from the other Atits. 

The philosophical tenets of the Dandis, in the main, are those 
of the Yedanta system ; but they generally supersede the practice 
of the Yoga as taught by the followers of Patanjali, and many of 
them have latterly adopted the doctrine of the Tantras. 

Sankara and the Muni Dattatrcya arc both held in high 
veneration by the Dandis. 

1 From "^mf^T, "" y«c s t," =» temporary dweller upon earth, or "^rHd, 
itoay," liberated from worldly cares and feelings. 



HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 197 

2. The Yogis, or Jogis (^pft). 

The Dandis are to the S'aiva sects what the followers of 
Ramanuja are to those of the Vaishnava faith, and a like parallel 
may be drawn between the disciples of Ramanand and those 
of Goraknath, or the Kanphata Jogis ; the first pair being properly 
restricted to the Brahmanical order, intended chiefly for men of 
learning ; the two latter admitting members from every descrip- 
tion of people, and possessing a more attractive popular character. 
The term Jogi is properly applicable to the followers of the Yoga 
or Pantanjala school of philosophy, which, amongst other tenets, 
maintained the practicability of acquiring, even in life, entire 
command over elementary matter, by means of certain ascetic 
practices. 1 In the present day, none lay claim to perfection, and 
their pretensions are usually confined to a partial command over 
their own physical and mental faculties. These are evinced in 
the performance of low mummeries, or juggling tricks, which 
cheat the vulgar into a belief of their powers. 2 

The principal mode in which the Yoga takes a popular shape 
in upper India is probably of comparatively recent origin. This 
is the sect of Kanphata Jogis, who acknowledge as their founder 
a teacher named Gorakhnath, traces of whom are found in Gorakh- 
kshetra, at Peshawar, and in the district and town of Gorakhpur, 
where also exists a temple and religious establishment of his 
followers. They hold also in veneration a plain near Dwaraka, 
named Gorakhkhetr, and a cavern or subterraneous passage at 
Haridwar. 

According to the authorities of this sect, Gorakh is but one of 
nine eminent teachers, or Naths. Of the perfect Yogis, or Siddhas, 
eighty-four are enumerated. 

The Yogis of Gorakhnath are usually called Kanphatas, from 
having their ears bored and rings inserted in them at the time of 

1 See Ward on the Hindus, and Colebrooke's Essays in vol. i. of the Asiatic 
Researches. 

2 See Asiatic Researches, vol. xvii., p. 186, for illustrations. The origin 
of the Yoga is there proved to be ancient, from hooks, from the cavern 
temples, etc. 



198 APPENDIX II. 

their initiation. They may be of any caste ; they live as ascetics, 
either singly or in Maths. S'iva is the object of their worship : 
they officiate, indeed, as the priests of that deity in some places, 
especially at the celebrated Lat, or staff, of Bhairava, at Benares. 
They mark the forehead with a transverse line of ashes, and 
smear the body with the same ; they dress in various styles, but 
in travelling usually wear a cap of patch-work and garment dyed 
with red ochre. Some wear a simple Dhoti, or cloth round the 
loins. 

The term Jogi, in popular acceptation, is of almost as general 
application as Sannyasi and Yairagi, and it is difficult to fix its 
import upon any individual class, besides the Kanphata, the 
vagrants, so called, following usually the dictates of their own 
caprice as to worship and belief, and often, it may be conceived, 
employing the character as a mere plea for lazy livelihood. The 
Jogis are, indeed, particularly distinguished amongst the different 
mendicant characters, by adding to their religious personification 
more of the mountebank than any others. Most of the religious 
mendicants, it is true, deal in fortune telling, interpretation of 
dreams, and palmistry. They are often empirics, and profess to 
cure diseases with specific drugs, or with charms and spells. 
But, besides these accomplishments, the Jogi is frequently musical, 
and plays and sings ; he also initiates animals into his business, 
and often travels about with a small bullock, a goat, or a monkey, 
whom he has taught to obey his commands, and to exhibit 
amusing gesticulations. The dress of this class of Jogis is 
generally a cap and coat, or frock, of many colours. They profess 
to worship S'iva, and often carry the ling a, like the Jangamas, in 
the cap. All classes and sects assume the character, and Musalman 
Jogia me not uncommon. One class of tho Hindu Jogis are called 
S&raDgfh&r, from their carrying a Sdrangi, or small fiddle, or lute, 
with which they accompany their songs. They beg iu the name 
of Bhairava. Another sect of them, also followers of that deity, 
arc termed Dorihars, from their trafficking in small pedlery, 
especially the sale of thread (don) and silk. Another class adopt 
the name of Matsvendris ; and a fourth set are Bhartriharis. The 



HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 199 

varieties of this class of mendicants, however, cannot be specified ; 
they are all errants ; fixed residences, or Maths, of any Jogi's, 
except the Kanphatas, rarely occurring. 

3. The Jangamas or Lingayats — (5|^p7T, "locomotive.''') 

One of the forms in which the Linga worship appears, is that of 
the Lingayats, Lingawants, or Jangamas, the essential characteristic 
of which is wearing the emblem on some part of the dress or person. 
The type is of a small size, made of copper or silver, and is com- 
monly worn, suspended in a case, round the neck, or sometimes 
tied in the turban. In common with the S'aivas generally, the 
Jangamas smear their foreheads with Vibmiti, wear necklaces, 
and carry rosaries made of the Eudraksha seed. The clerical 
members of the sect usually stain their garments with red ochre. 
They are not numerous in upper India, and are rarely encountered 
except as mendicants, leading about a bull, the living type of 
!Nandi, the bull of S'iva, decorated with housings of various 
colours and strings of kauri shells. The conductor carries a bell 
in his hand, and, thus accompanied, goes about from place to 
place, subsisting upon alms. l 

In upper India there are no popular works current of this sect, 
and the only authority is a learned Bhashya, or comment by 
Nilkantha, on the Sutras of Vyasa, a work not often met with, and 
being in Sanskrit, unintelligible to the multitude. 

Besides the Jangama priest of Kedarnath, an opulent establish- 
ment of them exists at Benares. Its wealth arises from a number 
of houses, occupying a considerable space, called the Jangani 
Bari. The title to the property is said to be a grant to the 
Jangamas, regularly executed by Man Singh, and preserved on a 
copper plate. 

4. The Paramhansas — (M"<*{ "the best," ^pj "devotee"). 

According to the introduction to the Dwadasa Mahavakya, by 

1 See, for a fuller account of this sect in the South of India, Asiatic Re- 
searches, vol. xvii., p. 198. 



200 APPENDIX II. 

a Dandi author, Vaikuntha Puri, the Sannyasi is of four kinds 
— the Kutichara (cjrR^T, 1 "tortoise"), Bahuddka, Hansa, and 
Paramhansa — the difference between whom, however, is only 
the graduated intensity of their self-mortification and profound 
abstraction. The Paramhansa is the most eminent of these 
gradations, and is the ascetic who is solely occupied with the 
investigation of Brahma, or spirit, and who is equally indifferent 
to pleasure or pain, insensible of heat or cold, and incapable of 
satiety or want. 

Agreeably to this definition, individuals are sometimes met 
with, who pretend to have attained such a degree of perfection. 
In proof of it they go naked in all weathers, never speak, and 
never indicate any natural want. What is brought to them as 
alms or food, by any person, is received by the attendants, whom 
their supposed sanctity, or a confederation of interest, attaches to 
them, and by these attendants they are fed and served on all 
occasions, as if they were as helpless as infants. It may be 
supposed that not unfrequently there is much knavery in this 
helplessness ; but there are many Hindus whose simple enthusiasm 
induces them honestly to practise such self-denial ; and there is 
little risk in the attempt, as the credulity of their countrymen, or 
rather countrywomen, will, in most places, take care that their 
wants are amply supplied. These devotees are usually included 
amongst the tt'iva ascetics ; but it may be doubted whether the 
classification is correct. 

5. The Agltoris (^fW'). 

The same profession of indifference to the world characterises 
the Aghoii as the Paramhansa; but he seeks occasion for its 
display, and demands alms as a reward for its exhibition. 

The original Aghorf worship seems to have been that of Devi 
in some of her terrific forms, and to have required even human 
victims for its performance. In imitation of the formidable 
aspect under which the goddess was worshipped, the appearance 

Perhaps so called because he retires into himself. 



HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 201 

of her votary was rendered as hideous as possible, and his wand 
and waterpot were a staff set with bones, and the upper half of a 
skull. The practices were of a similar nature, and flesh and 
spirituous liquors constituted at will the diet of the adept. 

The regular worship of this sect has long since been suppressed, 
and the only traces of it now left are presented by a few disgust- 
ing wretches, who, whilst they profess to have adopted its tenets, 
make them a mere plea for extorting alms. In proof of their 
indifference to worldly objects, they eat and drink whatever is 
given to them, even ordure and carrion. They smear their bodies 
also with excrement, and carry it about with them in a wooden 
cup or skull, either to swallow it, if by so doing they can get a 
few pice, or to throw it upon the persons, or into the houses, of 
those who refuse to comply with their demands. They also, for 
the same purpose, inflict gashes on their limbs, that the crime of 
blood may rest upon the head of the recusant ; and they have a 
variety of similar disgusting devices to extort money from the 
timid and credulous Hindus. They are, fortunately not numerous, 
and are universally detested and feared. 

6. Urddhvabdhus (^aTTF)- 

7. A' Ms Miclchis (H[db\m$*^\). 

8. NahJus {?F§t). 

The Urddhvabahus extend one or both arms above the head till 
they remain of themselves thus elevated. They also close the 
fist, and the nails being necessarily suffered to grow, make their 
way between the metacarpal bones, and completely perforate the 
hand. They are solitary mendicants, as are all of this descrip- 
tion, and never have any fixed abode. They subsist upon alms. 
Many of them go naked, but some wear a wrapper stained with 
ochre. They usually assume the S'aiva marks, and twist their 
hair so as to project from the forehead, in imitation of the Jata of 
S'iva. 1 

1 The Rev. T. Phillips states that he met with one man in a village who 
had once been an ascetic of this kind for years, but at last brought down his 
ith ghi. 



202 APPENDIX II. 

The A'kiismukhis hold up their faces to the sky, till the muscles 
of the back of the neck become contracted, and retain it in that 
position. They wear the Jata, and allow the beard and whiskers 
to grow, smearing the body with ashes ; some wear coloured 
garments. The Nakhi's never cut their finger nails. 

9. The Giidaras (T^IT). 

These are so named from a pan of metal which they carry 
about with them, and in which they have a small fire, for the 
purpose of burning scented woods at the houses of the persons 
from whom they receive alms. These alms they do not solicit 
further than by repeating the word Alakh ("^1^ or ^J^f, i.e. 
" invisible"), expressive of the indescribable nature of the deity. 
They have a peculiar garb, wearing a large round cap and a long 
frock or coat, stained with ochre clay. Some also wear rings, 
like the Kanphata Jogis, or a cylinder of wood passed through 
the lobe of the ear, which they term the Khechari Mudra, the 
seal or symbol of the deity, of him who moves in the heavens. 

10. The Suhharas (fRspf). 

These are distinguished by carrying a stick three spans in 
length. They dress in a cap and sort of petticoat stained with 
ochrey earth, smearing their bodies with ashes, and wear earrings 
of the Kudraksha seed. They also wear over the left shoulder a 
narrow piece of cloth dyed with ochre and twisted, in place of 
the Jane a, or Brahmanieal thread. 

11. The liiikharas (T$3§r3). 

These tire of similar habits and appearance, but they do not 
rariy the stick, nor wear the lvudniksha earrings, but in their 
place metallic ones. These two classes agree with the preceding 
in the watchword, exclaiming Alakh as they pass along. The 
term is, however, used by other mendicants. 



HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 203 

12. The Ukharas {^W€)- 

These are said to be members of either of the preceding classes, 
who drink spirituous liquors and eat meat. They appear to be 
the refuse of the three preceding mendicant classes, who, in 
general are said to be of mild and inoffensive manners. 

13. The Karalingis (^^rf^ft). 

These are vagabonds of little credit, except sometimes amongst 
the most ignorant portions of the community. They are not 
often met with ; they go naked, and to mark their triumph over 
sensual desires, affix an iron ring and chain on the male organ ; 
they are professedly worshippers of S'iva. 

14. The Sannyasis (^sETT^T)- 

15. The Vairagis (^T'ft)- 

16. The Avadhutas (^R^TrT). 

Although the terms Sannyasi and Vairagi are in a great measure 
restricted amongst the Vaishnavas to peculiar classes, the same 
limit can scarcely be adopted with regard to the S'aivas. All the 
sects, except the Sanyogi At'its, are, so far, Sannyasis, or excluded 
from the world, as not to admit of married teachers, a circumstance 
far from being uncommon, as we have seen, amongst the more 
refined followers of Vishnu. Most of the S'aiva sects, indeed, are 
of a very inferior description to those of the Vaishnavas. 

Besides the individuals who adopt the Dandagrahana ("holding 
the staff"), and are unconnected with the Dasnamis, there is a 
sect of devotees who remain through life members of the condi- 
tion of the Brahmachari, or student. These are also regarded as 
Sannyasis, and where the term is used in a definite sense, these 
twelve kinds, viz. the Dandis, Brahmachdris, and ten Dahiumi 
orders, are implied. In general, however, the term Sannyasi, as 
well as Avadhuta and Alakhniimi, expresses all the S'aiva class 
of mendicants, except, perhaps, the Jogis. 



204 APPENDIX II. 

17. The ISdgas (^TTT "naked"). 

The S'aiva Sannyasis, who go naked, are distinguished by this 
term. They smear their bodies with ashes, allow their hair, 
beards, and whiskers to grow, and wear the projecting braid of 
hair called the Jata. Like the Vairagi Nagas they carry arms, 
and wander about in troops soliciting alms, or levying contribu- 
tions. The S'aiva Xagas are generally the refuse of the Dandi and 
Atit orders, or men who have no inclination for a life of study or 
business. "When weary of the vagrant and violent habits of the 
]Saga, they re-enter the better disposed classes, which they had 
first quitted. The S'aiva Nagas are very numerous in many 
parts of India, though less so in the British provinces than in 
any other. These JSagas are the particular opponents of the 
Vairagi Nagas, and were, no doubt, the leading actors in the bloody 
fray at Haridwar, which had excluded the Vaishnavas from the 
great fair there from 1760 till the British acquired the country. 1 

(c.) Of the S'aktas. 

The worshippers of the S'akti (the power or energy of the 
divine nature in action) are exceedingly numerous amongst all 
classes of Hindus. The wife of Vishnu is Lakshmi; of S'iva, 
Parvati ; of Brahma, Saraswatf. The wife of S'iva is by far the 
most popular, not only in Bengal, but also in the other Gangetic 
provinces. 2 

Although the adoration of Prakriti, or S'akti, is to a certain 
extent authorised by the Puranas, particularly the Brahma 
Vaivartta, the Skanda, and the Kalika, yet the principal rites and 
formulae are derived from an independent series of works known 
by the collective term of Tantras. The followers of the Tantras 
profess to consider them as a fifth Veda, aid attribute to them 
equal antiquity and superior authority. 

1 Asiatic Researches, vol. xvii. 

- For a lull account of the origin and nature of this worship, see Wilson's 
Sketch, and Ward on the Hindus. 



HINDU' CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 205 

Any of the female deities may be the object of the S'akta 
worship, and the term S'akti comprehends them all ; but the 
homage of the S'aktas is almost restricted to the wife of S'iva and 
to S'iva himself as identical with his consort. The worship of 
Devi is of considerable antiquity and popularity. The adoration 
of Vindhyavdsini, near Mirzapur, has existed for more than seven 
centuries, and that of Jwalamukhi, at JNagarkot, very early 
attracted Muhammadan persecution. These places still retain 
their reputation, and are objects of pilgrimage to devout Hindus, 
especially on the 8th of the months of Chaitra and Kartik. 

Her great festival, the Dasahra, is in the west of India marked 
by no particular honour, whilst its celebration in Bengal, under 
the name of Durga Puja, occupies ten days of prodigal expenditure. 

There is a mela every year at the temple of Devi, in Etawah, 
a village near Agra, when buffaloes, goats, fruits, etc., are offered, 
the former being mostly slain. Every village almost has a little 
mound of earth or very small temple, containing a shapeless stone, 
daubed red, which they call Ban Khandi Devi. This, however, 
is chiefly worshipped by the women. In fact, the women are the 
chief, if not the only, worshippers of Devi in the North-west 
Provinces. 

The chief of the S'akta sects are — 

1, The Dakshinas or Bhaktas. 

When the worship of any goddess is performed in a public 
manner, and agreeably to the Vaidik or Pauranik ritual, it does 
not comprehend the impure practices which are attributed to the 
Yamis. In this form, it is called the Dakshina or right hand form 
of worship. The pure lali, or offering, presented by these consists 
of grain, milk, and sugar, but kids are often offered to Devi in her 
terrific forms. This is, however, considered rather heterodox. 

2. The Yamis or VdmacMris. 

The Vami's mean the left-hand worshippers, or those who 
adopt a ritual contrary to what is usual, and to what, indeed, 



■■n 



206 APPENDIX II. 

they dare publicly avow. The object of the worship is, by the 
reverence of Devi, who is one with S'iva, to obtain supernatural 
powers in this life, and to be identified after death with S'iva and 
Sakti. According to the immediate object of the worshipper is 
the -particular form of worship ; but all the forms require the use 
of some or all of the five Makaras or words whose first letter is m 

"Wine, flesh, fish, mystical gesticulations, and coition are the 
fivefold Alakara which takes away all sin." 

This worship is celebrated by men and women in the dead of 
night. 1 

(d.) Miscellaneous Sects. 

1. The Saarapdtas, or Sauras. 

These worship Surya-pati, the Sun-god, only. There are but 
few of them, and they scarcely differ from the rest of the Hindus 
in their general observances. The Tilaka is made in a particular 
manner, with red sandal, and the necklace should be of crystal. 
These arc their chief peculiarities, besides which they eat one 
meal without salt on every Sunday and each Sankranti, or the 
sun's entrance into a sign of the zodiac : they cannot eat either 
until they have beheld the sun, so that it is fortunate that they 
inhabit his native regions. 



o' 



2. The Ganapatyas. 

These are worshippers of (Janesa, or Ganapati, and can scarcely 
l)c considered as a distinct sect. All the Hindus in fact worship 
this deity as the obviator of difficulties ami impediments, and 
never oommence any work, or set off on a journey, without 
invoking his protection. Some, however, pay him more par- 

1 Bee a lull account of these orgies in the works of Ward and Wilson. 



HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 207 

tiicular devotion than the rest, and these are the only persons to 
whom the classification may be considered applicable. Ganesa, 
however, it is believed, is never exclusively venerated, and the 
worship, when it is paid, is addressed to some of his forms." 
This image is placed over many door- ways, and every book 
in Hindi commences with ^T^i^h^TO TT " Adoration to the 
blessed Ganesa." 

3. The Sikhs, or Ndnak ShdMs, are classed under seven 
distinctions. 

1 . TJdasis ; religious characters, who live in convents. 

2. Ganj Bakhshis ; not numerous, or of any note. 

3. Ramrayis; not common in Hindustan. 

4. Suthra Shahis ; great gamblers, drunkards, and thieves. 

5. Govind Sinhis. This is the most important division of the 
Sikhs, being in fact, the political association to which, or to the 
nation generally, the name Sikh is applied. Their faith is widely 
different from the quietism of INanak, and wholly of a worldly 
and warlike spirit. The sword is used by them both against 
Muhammadans and Hindus. 

6. Nirmalas; these, like the TJdasis, go nearly naked. 

7. Nagas ; naked beggars, who abstain from the use of arms. 

4. The Jains. 

The history and doctrines of this sect are set forth at consider- 
able length by Professor Wilson, in his "Sketch." But as they 
have already been noticed in the body of this work (p. 10G), wc 
content ourselves with merely mentioning them here among the 
Religious sects ; and for further information regarding them, as 
well as several other sects of minor importance (as the Baba 
Lalis, Sadhs, etc.), must refer the curious reader to the learned 
work from which we have already so largely quoted. 



/, 



Lou 



HERTFORD: 

PE1KTBD BY STEPHEN AUSTIN. 



L-.-*D 



